Gospel—Bruce Hayhoe
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I would like to welcome each one here to the Gospel meeting this evening, and we'd like to start the meeting by singing hymn #37 hymn #37 the Gospel of Thy grace. My stubborn heart has won. For God so loved the world He gave his only Son, That whosoever will believe shall everlasting life receive.
In #37 in this country.
In life, breathing and sleeping in the room.
But I serve.
The light man healing generally the wrong journey is the 1:00.
One shall I run away from anywhere?
For the world.
Speaking.
Of trouble. I said no, it's my heart loaded from my heart.
I can love. All right, the world around the corner of the world. MMM. All right, let's go over to life. Gravity show on the earth.
Umm, really?
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
We all in prayer together.
I want to go and turn to the back of the.
Uh, chorus sheet. And I'd like us to sing. Uh #43 it is my, indeed my prayer that I will be able to speak so everyone may understand that the children, the boys and girls may understand clearly the way of salvation, but that we may all benefit from hearing from God's Word. So I'd like us to sing #43.
One door and only one. That reminds us that there's only one way. There's only.
One way, when the Lord Jesus was here, he said I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh under the Father, but by me. There are all kinds of people that like to think there are many, many different ways to come to God the Father. They don't mind talking about God and they don't mind talking about the fatherhood of God. But it's becoming more and more unpopular.
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Uh, and very unpolitically correct to refer to the Lord Jesus in public places, but let's remember that there's only one way. If you want to know God, you're and only one, one and only one.
Dead night and I'll try and conquer you. One door and only one in heaven's undergoing tiger, do you?
I want to refer to one verse first in Second Corinthians chapter 4.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 4.
And verse 3.
But if our gospel be hid.
It is to them that are lost. I'm going to read on a few more verses in whom the God of this world and you notice when it says the God of this world that G is not capitalized, it certainly does not refer to God our Father. Those of us who know the Lord Jesus know God as our Father as well. The God of this world we know as Satan or the devil. The God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not.
Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Now this. These are the words of the Apostle Paul. For we preach not ourselves.
But Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants, for Jesus sake, for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.
In the face of Jesus Christ, another place in the Scriptures, the same man who wrote this book made a statement, a very important statement, and he said, roll unto me if I preach not the gospel. It's a great privilege to preach the gospel, but it's also a great responsibility to be faithful to what God is telling us through His word. Now I'd like to go back now to Acts chapter 8.
I'm sorry, the facts of Chapter 7, First Acts Chapter 7.
And verse 4, I'm sorry, this verse 54.
Acts Chapter 7 and verse 54.
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. Well, stop there because we have to explain who they are and who.
Who him is in the last line of the verse there was a man here and I'm not going to read what he had to say, but this man's name was Steven and some of you may know and recognize that as far as we know, Steven was the 1St man.
Who gave up his life for the Lord Jesus Christ? We would call him a marker. He was the first Christian martyr as far as we know.
And so he told them, in no uncertain words, very plainly and clearly.
Their responsibility told them what they had done, their responsibility and to turn.
But many, many didn't. And as a nation they did not turn to the Lord. And so He spoke at great length. And now we noticed when they heard on these things, they were cut to the heart. That means their conscience were reached. They they were very upset.
They realized, I think, that Steven was telling the truth and the whole truth. But how did they respond to that? Do you have two ways to respond to that? You can say yes, what that man is saying is true. I must humble myself before God, and I must come to God through his Son, the Lord Jesus. That's one choice you have to make.
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But the other choice which these ones made in this chapter.
Nashed on him with their teeth.
They ground their teeth together. They were so angry with them. They didn't like what you heard that what they heard him say. So we're gonna read on. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven.
Looked up steadfastly and have we heard a little bit about looking a little earlier, I think on yesterday, but this Stephen was looking up steadfastly into heaven, and with his seed he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of man standing on the right hand.
Of course, then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears. Why do you think they stopped their ears? I want you, boys and girls particularly, to think about it. Have you ever put your fingers in your ears like this? And why would you do that?
I'm guessing it's probably because you don't want to hear what somebody is saying. Maybe mother or father have had to give you a scolding and you might want to put your maybe you might think you want to do it, but you might be afraid to do it. I'm not sure. But these people were so angry with what they what they heard, they didn't want to hear anymore. So they stopped their ears and plugged their ears, probably, I'm presuming, by putting their fingers in their ears.
They cried out with a loud voice and stomped their ears and ran upon them with one accord. Were they running to him because they wanted to tell him how much they liked this message and how they wanted to know more about the Lord Jesus and how they wanted to put their trust in Him? I wish that were so, but it's not. It's not. So we read on and see what happened and they cast him out of the city.
And cast them out of the city. What about the city? And they didn't stop there. They could have said, well, we're going to throw them out of the city and we're going to shut the city gates so that you can't get in because we don't want to hear his message anymore. But they didn't do that. No, they and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. Now that was the way. That was the way the Jews had.
And there were times that God had told them that they should stone somebody if a man was worshiping idols.
Or there were a number of other laws that, uh, they broke, and then it was the responsibility of the Jews to stone these ones because they were absolutely defying God. Steven wasn't doing this. He was putting before them their responsibility before growth. And so they stole him with stones.
Customer of the city and stoned them, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul now.
There's a couple of cases in the Bible where people's names are changed and this is one man whose name was changed later as the has the same number of letters but the S is changed to P so we know him later. And most of the account in the book of Acts is talks about the man Paul but his his name before that was solved and so.
You know, if you're going to throw stones, and if you're wearing a big heavy garment and it's loose and it's hanging around your feet, you want to take it off because then you could throw a lot further. And so, but they didn't know what to do. So here's this man standing or sitting there, and they here, here, take, take my clothes. I can do a better job at killing this man that I hate so much. And so the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was thoughtful.
And they call and they stone Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice.
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Lord lay not the sin to their charge, and when he said this he fell asleep. You know when it says he fell asleep, it means he died. They kept throwing stones at him until.
Until he died, I'd like I think about the Lord Jesus when he was on the cross. One of the one of the last things that he said before he gave up his life, he called out to his Father. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Steven couldn't say this because by then they certainly knew what they had done. Stephen had brought this information to them and told them in no uncertain terms how they had sinned against God and rejecting God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So he couldn't say Father.
Forgive them, for they know not what they do. But he did say, Lord, lay not this sin.
Now, I just brought this as an introduction. I don't really wanna talk about Steven. I wanna talk about the young man at whose feet they laid their clothes so they could do a better job of getting rid of this man. They hate it, and they hated him because they he brought to them the message.
From God regarding God's own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if if we are?
Responsible.
And if we're faithful enough in telling others of the gospel and telling others of how they can be saved.
It's not likely in this country that people will take up stones and stones, but they won't like, they won't like it. And they say some unkind things. They may do some things too, as we have noticed yesterday. So now I want to read just one verse, a couple of verses in the next chapter.
And Saul was consenting unto his death. In other words, Saul.
He was fully in agreement. He agreed fully with what these men did. He didn't actually, probably that we know of. He didn't actually pick up stones to throw Steven himself, but he was in total agreement, sometimes just standing by.
Is enough for people to know whose side you're on. So he was consenting unto his death, and at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem.
And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
So there was a lot of trouble coming. These Christians, people didn't like what they heard and they were trying to get rid of them. So they made them, they made them afraid. So they went to other places. But you know God, that was in God's plans because when they went scattered and went to other places, they took the message with them. And so other people heard the way of salvation. Now verse 3, skipping verse two, As for Saul.
He made havoc of the church. Now havoc is maybe a word that some of the young children.
Don't know, but it means caused a lot of trouble, a lot of upset. He did everything he could to make their life miserable. We'll see what he did. Entering into every house and hailing men and women. Committed them to prison. Hailing means he got ahold of them and probably didn't do it. Probably had a band of soldiers with them. I don't know, it doesn't say here, but he had the authority to get them together and force them to be taken into the prison.
And that he was just doing everything he could to.
Caused trouble and therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. The table's got turned on. The people that wanted to shut these people up, they didn't wanna hear the message and so they scattered them abroad. So the message went out farther and farther into the known world, which was particularly around the Mediterranean Sea at that time. So we're gonna go on now to Chapter 9.
And we want to look just briefly, uh, a little more about Seoul. We're going to just read the 1St 9 verses. I know there's a lot more about Saul and that's this chapter, but I want to, uh, think about particularly, uh, what Saul has to say in the form of Paul later. So Chapter 9 and verse one, and Saul yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.
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Went under the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogue, that if he found any of this way.
Whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound under Jerusalem. I wanna bring your attention to 1-2 words in that verse.
Any of this way my margin tells me that in the Greek if any of the way.
Boys and girls remember who said when he was here I am the way the truth and the life that's that's this way. That's the way that they're talking about the Lord Jesus presented himself as the only way to God. No man cometh under the Father, but by me or except through me. I'm paraphrasing it, but I believe that is the thought of.
That I am the Way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh under the Father.
Umm, except through me for, but by me. And so, umm, if you found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound under Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven.
Paul got stopped right in his tracks. Or Saul. I'm sorry, I should say he's not Paul. Yet Saul got stopped right in his tracks.
And I think he must have had some sense.
Of who was going to speak to.
And he fell to the earth, and he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul.
Why persecutest thou me?
If you look at it from the way people might think of it in some way, why would why would Saul think?
Why would the voice ask that question?
Because Seoul was not that far as he knew, He wasn't persecuting the Lord. He found out it was the Lord, uh, that was speaking to him. But we know in another portion, Lord tells us that he that touches, uh, the least of my little ones. And I'm not quoting it exactly to touch up the apple of my eye. You know, there's nothing that I like less than if somebody came along and poked their finger in my eye.
That's very sensitive. That would really hurt. And I don't know whether any of you boys and girls have experienced that. I hope you don't, but if you do, you'll understand what I say. And so this is the Lord speaking, and Saul must have recognized it and at least a little bit of it. And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus.
Because that was the very one He had been spending all his time and energy to get rid of the followers of Jesus. He knew Jesus wasn't here on the earth anymore. He knew he had gone.
That he wanted to get rid of his phones. I am Jesus, whom thou persecutes.
I am Jesus.
Whom about persecutors?
What a revelation that must have been to solve, to realize, uh, that it was the VE, the very, uh, the very one who these people served and, and, uh, followed.
They were the ones he was trying to get rid of. He was throwing them in jail and no doubt many of them were going to their execution after their jail sentence.
Well, this was.
A great, very important revelation to solve.
And it was a life changing experience for him.
And through this he came to know the Lord, not as his enemies. He came to know the one who loved him and gave himself for him. Uh, I'm going to go down to the skip part of and I'm going to go down halfway through verse six and the Lord is still speaking and he says, arise and go into the city and it shall be told the.
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What thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice of seeing no man.
And saw a rose from the earth. And when his eyes were opened, he saw no man, but they led him by the hand.
And brought him into Damascus and he was three days without sight and neither did eat nor drink. I think I understand this correctly. Perhaps when he was down on his knees his eyes were shut tight. But when he gets up from his knees and he opens his eyes, he finds.
He's not there, and for three days his sight was gone. For three days. I wonder why.
God took a sight of me. I'd like to think that perhaps.
It allowed Paul to have a closer relationship once he came to know the Lord inside because all the things that were around him. You know, when we're reading the word of God, or perhaps you, we've all been in this meeting here and these meetings today. It's very easy to get distracted.
Maybe if you're a young child, you're sitting beside somebody who's poking you or.
Are trying to disturb you and it's hard to listen what what God is saying to us. And so I wonder if perhaps his sight was removed so that he could hear what God was saying to him directly without any interference. And he didn't eat or drink so for three days. Has anybody here not eaten or drunk for three days? I think probably it would be unwise under normal circumstances.
Although I remember reading of some of the great revivals in the last three or 300 or 400 years ago where men and women were so overtaken with their sins.
That they were totally prostate before golf and they couldn't eat, they couldn't drink. I don't know that they lost their sight, but they were so filled with the the the thought of their own sins separating them from God, soul filled with guilt because of sin.
The the everything that had to do with the ordinary circumstances and responsibilities of life were completely forgotten.
No, we don't see that much today. I've, I've, I've heard of it in a couple of cases that it doesn't happen much, but it did happen at, at times, uh, hundreds of years ago and it certainly happened to the one we know of now as the beloved apostle Paul now.
I want to go to some of the words that Paul has written and we've already reminded. We were reminded last night.
About the gospel and Paul's special responsibility in the gospel, the gospel of the grace of God and the gospel of the glory of God. Now I'd like to turn to 1St Corinthians 15. I'd like to turn to 1St Corinthians 15.
And instead of hearing about Paul and his experience on the road to Damascus, now Paul is speaking and writing to us as especially designated servants of God himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. He was specially chosen to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Now who are the Gentiles? The Gentiles are all those who don't have a special claim.
On God.
Because they are Jews. So in this as, as this is explained to us here, there were two groups of people at this time. There were the Jews. They were God's special chosen people, and all the rest of the world were the Gentiles. God had to do with them, but never in the same way. The Jews were God's special chosen family. But now, since the cross of Jesus Christ, since he died, and he rose again on the third day.
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Now the golf school is going to go out through the whole world. But now, uh, let's read this first and we can further discuss that as we go. Moreover, brethren, 1St Corinthians 15 and one, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you. So Paul is writing to these ones in Corinth. He wrote 2 letters. This is the first letter he wrote and he's saying, I've already been there. I've already talked to you. I've already.
Spoken to you about this. This isn't new, but I'm writing to you to remind you about it. Unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand.
So that was a good thing that Paul was able to say to them in Corinth. I'm gonna read that again. I declare unto you the gospel. And remember, we heard last night that the gospel, the word gospel, means good news. On what better news could we have than to know that Jesus died for sinners, because we know that we are sinners. I preached unto you, which also ye received in the wherein you stand, by which also ye are saved.
If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. Now this might be a little confusing to us. Does that mean that if you really believe in your heart that you could lose your salvation?
I'm absolutely certain that's not what it means. I don't believe that's what it means because we have many other scriptures that tell us that once we are saved, we are undwelt by the Holy Spirit, that we are kept in the Father's love, we are kept by the Lord Jesus and we cannot be lost. So what do you think this means? Well, you know, we have some scriptures. We have some examples, for instance in the book of Acts of those who believed.
That they didn't believe down in their heart.
They believed in their head, so they believed all the things that was preached to them, but they didn't really let it affect their heart. They didn't believe in their heart.
And so there may be boys and girls here who they've heard from them when they were tiny, when they were in mum or dad's arms. They've heard about Jesus. They know all about Jesus.
So they know, they believe that Jesus lived, they believed that he went to the cross and that he died for the heaven really accepted the Lord Jesus into their hearts. And if that could possibly be yourself, and perhaps there's an older person here who is in that situation, perhaps you give a center, you agree with everything that you've heard today, but you haven't really made him.
Your own You may acknowledge that the Lord Jesus is a Savior. You may acknowledge that the Lord Jesus is the Savior.
But you may not yet have acknowledged in your heart, and you have not yet told him.
You have not yet said the Lord Jesus is my Savior. And you know, there are some who believe and some who I think really belong to the Lord, but they haven't told somebody else. And you know, I think that gives you confirmation in your heart that you really belong to the Lord. The same man who wrote this said in another place, if thou shalt confess, if thy mouth.
Jesus says Lord of the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead.
Thou shalt be safe. So I think it's important. It helps to confirm in your own heart that you belong to the Lord. If you've told somebody else that you've made that decision, I believe that's very important and it gives you real peace and joy in doing so.
And so I think that the second part of this first may perhaps refer to some who who said, yes, I accept it all in my head, but they didn't let it affect them and come into their heart. It was just a head belief and it was not a heart belief. And now this is what Paul is saying. That happened before. I delivered unto you, first of all, that which also I received, which I also received.
So basically what Paul is saying is I'm not making this up.
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I'm not just telling you because I think it's a good story. I'm passing on to you information that was given to me directly by God.
This information was given to me directly by God. Now, we don't know exactly when all this revolution came to Paul. We know, of course, he had the initial revelation on the road to Damascus. But we know there was another time that he was stoned and taken up for dead.
And some have thought perhaps that at that time.
Uh, he speaks of being caught up into the 3rd heaven. Perhaps at that time he heard more clearly and it was given to him more clearly, the full encompassing gospel of the grace of God and the gospel of the glory of God. We don't know, but this is what he says. I received, I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins.
And I think that's probably one of the first verses I've learned as a tiny little child. We often gave that out to the youngest children when they came to the gospel temple. Christ died for our sins. I hope everyone, every boy and girl here knows that verse and can say it, and not only knows it in their head, but they believe it in their heart as well. Christ.
Died for our sins.
According to the scriptures.
Does that mean, Well, a lot of the scriptures, a lot of the New Testament scriptures hadn't been written at that time. But we know if we go back to the Old Testament, there are many, many. I know they've been counted. I just don't have an official account. Many, many prophecies. How that the Lord Jesus, umm, as the Messiah would come into this world, uh, that he would go as a lamb to the slaughter, as it were. And before his shears, he's dumb, so he opens not his mouth. We have countless scriptures telling us.
Of his coming. And so he died, and he fulfilled every prophecy exactly every.
Eye daughter and every T crossed every prophecy 100% and exactly fulfilled by the Lord Jesus. So I believe at least that's one thought that is connected with this. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
Let's go on.
And that he was buried.
And that he rose again the third day, according.
2 The scriptures.
And that he was seen of Cephas.
Now, Cephas wasn't the name that we know this man of very much it. It was his name that was one of his names, but it's not another one of his names was Peter. Peter.
And you know, it's interesting that Paul mentions Peter because Peter had denied the Lord and he denied him three times. But.
How gracious, glorious he was seen of Cephas, and then of the 12 So all those, the ones who have accompanied the Lord Jesus, and very closely that traveled around with him and heard his things and observed his miracles.
The Lord Jesus appeared to them.
And after that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained under this present. But some are following us.
I often marvel at the unity and the largeness of the testimony of Christ's death and resurrection. We know in the Old Testament, uh, uh, they were told under the law, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Well, there's 500 witnesses here, not two or three.
It's just as if God has said, I want you to know that there's no possible way that this can be hidden.
I want you to know that it happened. He died. He rose again.
He's gone back to the fore.
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After that he was seen of James, that of all the apostles, and.
Last of all, he was seen of me also as one born out of due time. When did?
Paul, ever see the Lord Jesus? I think we had already read about the time when he saw the Lord Jesus. I believe he saw the Lord Jesus when he was on the way to Damascus. Remember, he had papers in his pocket.
Uh, charges from the chief priests in Jerusalem so we could collect and gather up the Christians and get rid of them.
And it was stopped.
Heard the voice, and I believe that he saw the Lord there.
Last of all, he was seen to me also as of one born out of due time.
As if he was plucked up and taken.
And they didn't pass through the normal channels of birth. That's the, that's the thought that was one born at a due time.
For I am the least of the apostles.
What, you say this is the great apostle Paul, This is the one who has written more books than anyone else in the New Testament, and then he says he's the least of the impulses.
Why? Why does he say that?
That are not neat or fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God.
By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. But I labor abundant more abundantly than they all, yet I not I. He's not taking the credit for Himself.
He's the channel. If you have water here and you wanna get it over there, you run a pipe, you collect the water here and you run the water through a channel and the water gets to there, but it's not the channel that does the work. It just carries the water. And so Paul was a channel and so.
And I labor more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God. So the grace of God is like the water that travels from point A to point B. And of course we know.
The water in the Bible often speaks of of the word of life speaks of of this book, the water of the word and therefore whether where I are they so we preach and so ye holy well, I I don't see anyone here in this room who hasn't heard the Gospel many times.
Another scripture says God speaks once, only twice. That man receiveth enough. There's no guarantee that any one of us.
Anyone will hear the gospel any further?
Before this meeting is over, the Lord Jesus may have come and those who have heard the message, heard the gospel and have rejected it said no, I don't want any of that stuff. Those who have heard the message and rejected it, they will not have any opportunity backwards. There's going to be a different gospel that's going to go out during the time of the Tribulation, and those who haven't rejected the gospel of grace will have every opportunity.
To accept the gospel of the Kingdom. But if you've heard the gospel and you've understood it clearly.
And you've you've rejected or just said, well, I'm gonna leave it. That's that's for when I go up and then.
You're going to be responsible, and if the Lord Jesus comes tonight and you haven't accepted the Lord Jesus, it will be too late. It will be too late after that. Now I'd like to go through some other things that the apostle Paul wrote. I want you to remember the most important one that I'd like to bring before us was in verse three in this chapter, First Corinthians 15. Christ died for our sins. Now Paul was writing to more than one person.
And he was including himself as well and so right and proper that he would have said Christ died for our sins. But now I want to address each person individually today, tonight. And I'm asking you, can you say?
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Price died for my since I wanna make it really personal, just like I said, it's fine to say yes Jesus is a savior. It's even better to say that Jesus is the savior.
It is far, far better by better by far to be able to say Jesus is my savior. Can you say Christ died for my sins? Now let's go to first Timothy. We're having too much more time. But there's a few more verses I want to look at first Timothy one.
Chapter One.
And I wanna read. I'm not gonna comment much on when I read from verse 11.
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust, this was a special commitment by God through to the apostle Paul. That was committed July 1St, and I thank God our Lord, who has enabled me for that. He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer.
A blasphemer. That's a terrible thing.
To say, but he said it about himself and the persecutor. We read about that already, didn't we? How he was trying to get rid of the Christians and injurious. He had every purpose in doing them harm, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. Now this is the verse.
That I want you to think about this. I want you to remember this is a faithful saying that's just like a flashing light when you come to a corner. It it serves to a virtue. That's what I think. These words, This is a faithful saying, stop and listen. Pay attention to what's being said. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. It's such an important message because it's a universal message.
So it's worthy for everybody in the whole world to accept. Now we know.
Not everyone is going to accept that message, but it's such a worthy message that all can and should accept. And what is the message?
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Who I am, chief. Now I'm going to ask you if I'm going to ask each one here, if you can personally say this about yourself. Can you say Christ Jesus came into the world to save me? The gospel is nothing if it's not personal.
To be applied to the hearts and lives of everyone on the face of the earth. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world to save me. Now Paul goes on, and he acknowledges that he was one of the worst sinners in the world. You might say, well, I've done so many bad things, I can't possibly imagine how God would accept me. Well, Paul says I'm the very worst senator that ever could have been on the face of the earth.
And yet he accepted me. Surely he will accept you, and we know he will because he said him. That cometh to me. I will in no wise cast out. You know what that word is? No wise. It's a funny expression that we don't use that today. But it means I will never, ever, ever cast it in the original language in which it was written. It's known as a double negative. It means I will know not ever cast it.
In English, if you put two negatives or two Nos together, we can change it around and become positive and make a positive statement. But in the original language of Greek, one negative accentuated and emphasized the other, so that that little statement could not be made in a more powerful or in a stronger way than when the Lord Jesus sent him. That cometh to me. I will in no wise casting.
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So the Lord Jesus is going to save a soul who consented to the death of that first Christian martyr, and then there's no one on the face of this earth, no matter what he has done. Our brother last night spoke of Adolf Heightman who had been responsible for the murder of 6,000,000 Jews. And although we don't know that he ever accepted the Lord, the message was available to him and he was. He could have accepted the Lord.
Have you chosen to do to do so? And the message goes out to all and sundry today. So remember, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now I want to look at another verse in Hebrews Chapter 7 and verse 25.
This, uh, confirms what I have already said, or what I should say, what the word of God has said.
7 and 25 Hebrews, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost. You know, I don't think I've ever heard anybody use that word in common current English language, but I think, and I hope most everybody can understand what that word is saying. And I looked it up and I looked to see if I could find some other renderings in a reliable literal translation.
And I found, uh, one literal translation that said he was able to save.
Them completely, completely.
Another literal translation said he is able to save them at all times. I'm not going to pass judgment as to which maybe the most correct. I'm quite happy and content with the word uttermost because to me it means that there's no limit to God's ability to save us. Through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, He is able to save them to the uttermost that come under God.
By him? Who's that?
Common God by him by through Jesus. This is in this day and age. This is the for those who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our only access to the Father is through the Lord Jesus Christ, so he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Now I'd like to look at a couple of verses.
Umm, just before we close in Romans chapter five first of all.
We already know, uh, that we're sinners, and we know that Christ died for our sins, and it doesn't matter how extreme, how terrible a Sinner we are.
The gospel still is meant for you.
And so I want to look here at Romans 5 and.
Verse 12.
Wherefore as by one man.
Sin entered the world.
And death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
I like to look at, just just for a second, uh, at the thought of the fact that there is sin and there are sins. If you want to look at it that way, you can think about a, a tree and you got the root and you got the fruit that appears on the tree.
I believe sin is the root.
And we were at each one of us were born as children of Adam, and we were born with a sinful nature. But it doesn't stop there, because we each individually have made a choice or had made a choice in our lives for sin.
And so we are guilty because we are born in sin. We are born as children of Adam, and Adam sinned originally, but we are also guilty because we have sinned ourselves. All have sinned. Now verse 19, I want to read the same chapter.
Because this is the wonderful part for us, by one man's disobedience.
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Who is that? That was Adam back in the Garden of Eden. Many were made sinners.
Sold by the obedience of one shall many.
Be made righteous.
So shall by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. We know I've already told you who the 1St man is. That's Adam back in the garden of you. Who is the second man? I believe the 2nd man is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was the only one that was perfectly 100% obedient 100% of the time.
He came in this world as a man, as a man, and he said when he was here I do always those things which please the Father, always no exception.
Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound.
And so God sent the law, not because he he knew they couldn't keep the law, but he sent the law so that they would realize that they couldn't keep him. So they would realize that there was no way they could keep the law which God had given. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. So there was so much sin. I've been reading through the accounts just lately in the Old Testament.
Through Samuel and Kings, and now I'm reading in Chronicles.
Oh, what a sad well, perhaps I'm even going to starting a judges and going through Judges Samuel King's unknown to Chronicles. What a sad story it is that even those that knew, even though that those that were part of God's special earthly family, they sinned as well.
And they turned away from God countlessly. They built idols and they got down on their knees and they worshipped things that were made of stone or gold or brass or wood. And they forgot about the God of heaven. The God of heaven would be part of the the water. So they would cross the Red Sea who parted the River Jordan so they could cross the River Jordan. They forgot about him and that.
But there was still grace where sin abounded. Grace did much more about it, and grace, while I believe, was sort of more at the cross of Jesus Christ.
I say this reverently, and I stand to be corrected than at any other time in man's history.
Grace, Lord Jesus went on the cross. He bore our sins. He bore the punishment for our sins in His own body on the court.
What a blessed Savior we have. How sad it would be having heard the message, the good news of salvation. If you would leave this room tonight, whether you're young, whether you're old or whatever, if you would leave this room without knowing the Lord Jesus, that's your own personal Savior. Let us pray.
Our gracious God and our Father.
We thank you.
Out of a full heart for the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Or do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? That though he was rich, he became poor? That ye through his poverty might be rich? And what richness we have in knowing the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
With our great concern is that there should be one here tonight, if one here who has not yet accepted the Lord Jesus the Savior, that they might do so before it is forever too late. We do not know. We have no assurance of time past this very second. We do not know when our precious Savior will return and call away those who who he who He has redeemed by His own precious blood.
So we commend ourselves to be known, and with Thanksgiving our Father again thanking thee for the gift of the Lord Jesus, for the gift of His.
For the gift of God, our blessed God, which we know is eternal life. And this all came from the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee and we praise Thee and thy worthy and precious name, Lord Jesus.