Address—Dn. Spence
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Ask for the prayers of every Christian in the audience tonight.
For the salvation of someone who is lost in this room.
I'd like you to add, I'd like to ask you to pray.
Continuously through this meeting, that someone might be saved.
I'd like you to turn in God's Word, the Bible, to the New Testament.
The Bible is divided into Old and New Testament. I'd like you to turn to the New Testament.
Toward the latter part of your Bible.
In the Gospel of Mark.
Second Gospel, Second Book of the New Testament.
Mark chapter 8 and verse 34.
Mark 8 verse 34.
And when he had called the people unto him, with his disciples also he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it.
But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels, the same, shall save it.
Now listen to this verse. For what shall it profit a man or woman or boy or girl, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
For what shall a man give?
In exchange for his soul.
I'd like to ask you the question tonight.
Would you be interested in a plan for your life?
That gave you temporal profit and eternal loss.
Would you be interested in that something that would give you a profit?
For a number of years.
Through the span of your lifetime and then loss for all eternity.
Or would you rather have something that might cost you something?
For a number of years and then have eternal gain. I think that's what he's asking in this question. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
That question I want you to answer tonight.
I want you to answer it.
What will it profit you if you could gain the whole world?
And lose your own soul.
I want you to answer it.
You know, there's a lot of ways of gaining things in this life.
I want you young people in the room tonight to think of.
A new car?
A brand new car if you could have that car tonight, if the devil would hold it out and say here it is.
You can have this car.
But I want your soul.
Would you give it to him?
I want you to think of the most of the most handsome young man in your high school class.
The most attractive young lady.
The devil can get her or him for you, and if he could give her or him to you tonight.
Would it be worth it if you lost your soul for all eternity?
I want to ask you.
Young married couples.
If you and I'm going to direct this to the husband, perhaps, or anyone in the working world today, if you could climb the management ladder into the president's chair at your company, If you could become the director of all of this wealth.
If you could have the sports car, the motorhome, the yacht.
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The Mountain Home and all of those things that go along with it. Would it be worth it if you lost your soul in hell for all eternity?
I want you to answer those questions inside.
That's what he's asking. What shall it profit a man or a woman or a boy or a girl, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Rudolph Diesel was a man who was seeking to gain the world the technological world of his day.
He developed what we know today is the diesel engine.
And he went right to the top, engineering wise. Over in Germany, he had everything that he could ever want. He bought it. He built a castle. He went to every place that he could ever go. He enjoyed everything that he could enjoy.
And yet when he packed his bags for the trip to England for new business for his company.
He left a note behind to his wife which she would find after he jumped off the boat in the English Channel.
He gained the world, and not only did he find it to be an empty world that he gained, but he found then at that point of death it to be eternal loss.
God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living or never dying soul. And every person in this room tonight has that never dying soul.
So we'll go on throughout all eternity in a place of everlasting torment or a place of everlasting pleasure and joy.
And because of the Garden of Eden and man's sin, man became a Sinner, and you inherited and I inherited A sinful nature, a nature that has the wrong perspective.
A nature that has that is not capable of pleasing God. A nature that is spiritually dead.
And no matter how many good works you may perform in your lifetime, God will never use them to balance out.
The bed that you have done.
Our friends, I want you to consider this tonight.
I was talking to John Rule just a few days ago and he was telling me over in Africa where he visited, that there were people who actually make a pact with the devil.
And they make an agreement that they will sell their soul to the devil if the devil will give them anything they want.
And they get it.
And this pact will last a number of years according to the agreement, and at the end of that time that person goes.
He goes, he dies, he loses his soul.
Now, the work of the devil in this country is not so in the open. The devil is subtly offering to you tonight the world. He's offering to you pleasure. He's offering to you All those things out there, you may never get it.
It's like the carrot. He's hanging the carrot out there and he's saying there it is, go after it, but you're going to lose your soul.
When we back up in these in these verses that were read to verse 34.
I'd like to spend some time, in fact most of the rest of the meeting on this.
This verse that these words that Jesus spoke.
Middle of verse 34 Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
You know, if you follow Christ tonight.
It will lead you to a cross.
And when you come to that cross and accept that cross and what was done there for you.
There's a pathway that will lead you into heaven.
That is the only way to heaven.
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That's the only way that you can ever get to heaven through the cross and what was done there?
Jesus came down from heaven. He was God's Son. He lived a perfect life. He died as a sin bearer, He went into death. He arose bodily from from the grave, and he ascended back into the glory to God's right hand. No other man has ever done that.
No other man will ever do that. And that's why there is no other religion on the face of the earth from the beginning of the history of man until now.
That could ever save your soul.
Jesus Christ was the Lord. He was God's Son. He came down and he spoke these words that you might hear him tonight, that you might listen to him.
He says. Whosoever will come after me.
What does it say? If you want to come after him, let him deny him.
Let him deny himself.
It's going to cost you something.
It's going to cost you something if you're going to come to Christ.
It might cost you a lot temporarily. It's going to be eternal gain.
You know it says you must deny yourself.
I see younger people, and I know what is going on. I see younger people with the world in one hand and a confession of Christ back in their past somewhere that they're hanging on to.
I see them going after the pleasures of sin.
I see them going into the bars of this world.
I see them going to the parties.
Some of you in this room have done that.
Your folks don't know it. The people in your church don't know it. The brethren don't know it. But God knows it.
And in order to soothe your conscience after you go after the pleasures of sin, the drink and the drugs, the sex of this world, in order to soothe your conscience, you say. I remember a time when I was saved.
I had a young person tell me that not very long ago.
Oh.
It scares me to hear that I it worries me when young people are older people go after the world with all that they have and say sure glad I got saved when I was a kid.
What Jesus is saying in this verse is that if you're going to come to him, you've got to deny yourself. You've got to deny yourself.
You've got to say no to that world of sin. You've got to say no to those lusts that are eating away at your at your heart. You've got to say no. You've got to deny yourself.
Maybe the person that you have done some of these things with is sitting next to you. You may have to say no to him. That may come later. But I want to encourage you tonight to say no right now, within yourself, within your heart, to recognize that those things that you have been doing, that you have been going on with, that only you think you know about.
God knows about them, and you must say no, You must deny yourself.
You know, sometimes I look at a little portion in the book of Hebrews. Maybe I will just quote it to you so you can listen to it.
Moses. It says that about Moses.
That he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
He made a choice in his life. It affected his eternal destiny. You will make a choice here tonight. That is going to affect your eternal destiny.
Moses made the choice for Christ.
If you make that same choice, you will end up in the same place as Moses.
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If you decide against Christ tonight, you will be eternally lost.
And you'll go to that place where the rich man went, where he was suffering in the flames of eternal torment.
Moses looked at the world of his day. Moses was riding the Crest of a wave that was taking him to economic and political power.
In the most powerful and rich nation of the world.
Moses graduated from the best university, the University of the Sun. Moses was headed for the top in his country.
And he looked out there, and he made a choice.
Sometimes I've looked at the pleasures that Moses had to choose from.
And I start all of the pleasures with AP.
I say, well, Moses could have been the Pharaoh of Egypt.
He could have had the biggest position. He could have been the most powerful man in the world of his day.
Moses could have gone to the palace.
He could have had the biggest house in the world of his day.
Moses could have had prosperity. He could have had the biggest bank account.
In the world of his day, Moses could have had a pyramid.
He could have had the biggest tombstone in the world today.
Moses had all of those things available to him, and he chose Christ.
He chose to suffer. He chose to say no. He chose to deny himself and say no to the world of his day.
And to the pleasures that were available.
Why? Because he esteemed the riches that were in Christ to be greater than the treasures of Egypt. And my friend God gave Moses some treasures that will be for eternity.
The greatest gift that God gave Moses was the gift of eternal life.
Moses chose to deny himself.
So let's read that verse whosoever will come after me.
Let him deny himself and take up his cross.
And follow me. You're willing to do that tonight? Are you willing to do that right now?
To deny yourself.
Now notice the next thing that says and take up his cross.
And follow me.
Follow who follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
A cross is a symbol of suffering and shame.
We're going to talk a little bit about it, but what it's going to mean for you to become a Christian tonight.
Is that you're going to have to be willing to be rejected by your friends.
You're going to have to be willing for others to maybe put you down.
To laugh at you.
That person that is sitting next to you in the audience tonight that is passing you the note that is whispering in your ear, you're going to have to be willing to say just a minute.
I want to listen to this gospel meeting.
They may make fun of you.
But.
You may be saved. You have to be willing to suffer rejection. That's what the cross means.
I would like you to turn to.
The end of the book of Mark.
I'm sorry, the end of the book of Luke.
Luke, Chapter 23.
We're going to look at a man who carried a cross.
Luke, Chapter 23.
And verse 24.
And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required, and he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison.
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Whom they desired, He released another prisoner, But he delivered Jesus to their will. And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon a Cyrenian coming out of the country. And on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
I want to skip down a little bit.
To verse 33. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors went 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.
I want to skip down now.
To verse 44.
And it was about the 6th hour, and there was a 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 commend my spirit, And having said thus.
He gave up the ghost.
If we were to go back in this chapter, we would find not only in this chapter, but in the other Gospels.
In the Gospel of John as well as the Gospel of Matthew that they took Jesus.
They had a trial, a mock trial, in which they brought in false witnesses.
To convict the only perfect man that ever lived.
And due to a lot of pressure from religious leaders, a Roman judge named Pilate.
Succumbed to the pressure, he backed off. He was afraid. He washed his hands of it. He didn't want anything to do with it.
But in the process of this trial, he took Jesus and sent him out to be scourged.
I'd like to describe the scourging.
They took a man.
They took him out, they took off his robe, they tied his hands to the top of a pole like this.
Sometimes they stretched him like that, his hands to side to side, but normally they tied his hands to the top of a pole.
They took a whip, a whip that was especially made for the scourging that had lead or iron balls with jagged broken stones in it, and a three tailed whip.
And as that man stood there.
With no clothes.
Two Roman soldiers from either side took their whip and beat the back of that man, one from one side, one from the other.
And that whip was of such a nature because of those steel balls and those broken stones, that it bruised, broke, tore open the flesh to the point that the whole back from the top down to the bottom of the legs, was a quivering mass of bleeding flesh.
Many died from the scourging. Many were left in a state of weakened shock.
Jesus went through this.
And they gave to Jesus this it is in the minds of many the thoughts of many a cross or a crossbar that he carried through the streets of Jerusalem on that painful bleeding back.
The cross, Wade or the crossbar weighed about 100 lbs.
And as he went through the city, he was followed by a mob, a group of people who were bent upon his crucifixion.
And he gets through the gate of this city.
And as they come to the gate, scripture records that they laid hold on. This man Simon has Cyrenian. He was from the country.
I don't know why they got ahold of Simon, but I'm going to, I'm going to speculate just a little bit.
I believe that Simon didn't like what he saw.
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Simon was from the country. I know that many of you tonight here are from the country.
And I know what people are like from the country.
Sometimes people in the city get used to violence. They see it every day in the streets.
See it at school and all of those things, they see it going on. And you find in the papers of your city sometimes recorded the fact that someone is beaten to death before the eyes of others and nobody cared. Nobody called the police.
But people from the country?
Reject some of that. They can't stand it. They don't see it every day. And here was a man who stood at the gates of the of that city. And as Jesus was coming out, he didn't like what he saw, and I think it showed in his eye.
He saw a man who was walking through those streets, stumbling, perhaps along, weakened by the scourging.
He saw a crowd that was venting their wrath and their anger, their ridicule upon him and he didn't like it. And so they said, I think Simon, if you don't like it, you carry his cross.
And Simon carried that Christ up Calvary's hill for Jesus.
And there, on the top of that hill, they took those men who were going to be crucified and they threw them on the ground.
And they nailed them to the cross.
Hand and foot.
Put the cross up in the air.
And in all of the pain of.
That terrible moment.
Jesus lifts up his voice and says Father.
Forgive them, for they know not what they do.
The The death of a cross.
Is perhaps the most painful way a person can ever die. He dies slowly, with terrible cramps in his muscles, with searing pain in his hands and feet.
And as he does so, with all of this pain and all of the awfulness of that time, the crowd stands around.
And it hates that person who dies. It ridicules him, as they did with Jesus.
Do you think that Simon walked up Calvary's hill, saw the nails driven in his hands and went home?
Absolutely not. I don't think so. And I'll tell you why, because later on you find two sons of Simon the Cyrenian.
Who were saved by the grace of God.
I think that Simon stayed there through all of those three hours when Jesus suffered that terrible physical pain and suddenly in the darkness.
The darkness came, the darkness so great that he could not see his hand in front of his face. God blacked out the sun. And in the blackness of those three hours, from 12:00 to 3:00, God took the sins that I deserved, and he laid them upon Jesus Christ his Son.
And he punished him for it, a punishment that would have taken me all eternity to pay.
And at the end of those three hours of darkness, Jesus cried, as we have in the Gospel of Matthew. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
I have a friend.
And this friend lives in Colorado Springs. His name is Bill.
And Bill is a Jew.
He was born a Jew. Jew. His folks are Jewish.
And about a little over a year ago, Bill accepted Christ as his savior.
And Bill saw, I saw him last year in Denver and he came up and he said I've got a question for you. And I said what is it?
He said. Why did Jesus say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
He said. In other words, why did he put it in a question? Why didn't he just say, God, you have taken me. Why didn't he make the statement?
Bill asks such simple questions that are hard to answer.
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And I think if I were to meditate on that for all eternity, I would not sound the depths of that question.
But I said, Bill, let's suppose that you and I stood at the cross and as we saw all this terrible suffering going on, we saw.
The darkness suddenly come, and for three long hours that must have seemed forever, we stood there in silence, saying nothing.
And then suddenly, before the darkness broke, we heard this cry. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Question.
I said, Bill, don't you think that we would look at each other and say it was for me?
My friends, if you're willing to stand at the cross tonight and say it was for me that he died, it was for me that he was forsaken.
That will save your soul.
That will save your soul. It will make you a Christian.
Because you recognize that Jesus, the Son of God, has died on your behalf. That's what salvation is.
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. That's what saves you.
You know, there on Calvary's cross, the greatest load that has ever been born was born.
The load of the sins of many.
For it is appointed unto man wants to die, but after this the judgment. But Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.
The greatest load that has ever been carried was carried there at the cross and it was paid in full.
In the Old Testament, when you see a sacrifice, the fire came down and consumed it. But on the cross the sacrifice consumed the fire of judgment. The fire of judgment was consumed, and God can offer to you a salvation plan tonight that is paid for in the death of his Son, signed in the blood that was shed on Calvary. God cannot lie. He offers it to you free tonight.
The greatest load that was ever born was born on the cross.
The greatest loneliness that has ever been known was known on the cross Jesus suffered there. God turned his back on him as the thunderbolts of judgment came down.
The greatest love that has ever been shown.
The reason that Jesus Christ came to this world to die was because he loved you tonight. He loved you. He did not want to see you suffer forever. He wanted to save you. He wanted you to be his companion forever. He loves you right now, and he's asking you to come to him. If you reject love like this, if you walk out of this door tonight and you reject the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He can do nothing else but let you go your way to a lost eternity. You make the choice.
You make the choice.
And I think that Simon stood at this cross and saw all of this. Heard the voice of Jesus, commit himself to the Father, saw the soldiers come along and take a spear and place it between the ribs and rip a a gaping hole in Jesus side. Saw the blood come out. Did not understand fully until later on that it was that blood that washed every sin away from his record of guilt.
I don't know how bad your record is. I know that mine is bad. I think it's a lot worse than I think. But I know that if you were to go up to heaven tonight and say, let me see the record of the speaker in this audience, he would look under that name, Dan Spence, and you would see blank pages.
Why? Because I've lived a good life? No, because the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed upon the cross. God's Son.
Wiped it away.
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And I'm trusting that Precious Blood to take me all the way home.
You know, my friends, tonight I want you to turn back and consider again those verses in Mark Chapter 8.
Mark chapter 8 and verse 34.
Middle of the verse, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross.
I want to stop there. I want to talk to those of you who are going on with things that you know are wrong.
It's going to cost you a little bit. You're going to be rejected.
That friend, Perhaps you've been involved in immorality?
It's possible that person is sitting by you tonight.
And you are going to have to say no at the cost of being dropped by that friend. Is it worth it?
You're going to have to say no when those people invite you to the parties.
You're going to be rejected by your friends, but you're going to hold in your hand, in your heart tonight the certificate of eternal life.
Is it worth it?
The Lord Jesus Christ loves you with an unchanging, never dying love that took him into the worst suffering any man has ever known, he says. I love you with all of my heart. Please come tonight to me. Please come and accept me. He's knocking at the door right now.
Out in California.
There's a young woman.
His name is Bunny Mendel.
Bonnie Mandel is a person.
Who has a little daughter who comes to our afternoon Sunday school.
Her daughter has accepted Christ as her savior. She's told her mother about it. Her mother rejected it, didn't care if she went, but she didn't want it for herself.
I'm going to tell you why, because Bonnie Mundell was a.
Heroin addict?
I know that for many of you in the room tonight, you do not know the depths.
That a heroin addict goes to.
They say that that drug is so powerful that one shot makes you an addict. The power and slavery of that drug is so great that a person cannot break it by themselves.
And what they go through to break that habit is one of the worst nightmares that anybody could ever.
Could ever imagine.
Bonnie Mandel, who was the mother of this little girl who was saved, did not want Christ. She wanted her heroine. She wanted to be an addict.
She wanted the pleasures of sin.
And yet, because of the effects of that drug, she had tremendous ups and tremendous downs. But as time went on, it kept going lower. Those ups were a little less high, and those downs were greater every time. She found that the drug was so addicting that she needed a shot instead of once a day, twice a day.
She had to steal to support her habit.
Her little girl sometimes did not have enough food to eat because the drug habit was so expensive.
I'd like to tell you the story tonight of Bonnie Mandel.
But maybe it would be better if I let her tell it to you.
From the prison at Frontera, California.
Maximum security prison for about 2000 women.
Bonnie is serving her time in this prison.
While she was out and her little girl was brought back, she had a young lady named Mary come by and she would tell her Bonnie Christ can set you free, He died for you.
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Well, let me let Bonnie tell you the story. It's better if she tells it to you.
Bonnie never wrote poetry before the prison, but I'd like you to listen to her story and poetry. This is called the Merry Go Round to Hell.
Once I was writing to hell on a merry go round.
Following others with no way but down. Going in circles, getting nowhere. A massive confusion. My soul was my fear.
Running a race to torment and grief, wanting to stop wanting relief. All the smiles on those faces turn to torment because they're friends, not understanding in circles. I went up, went the horses and then down again. I kept hoping my horse would stay up.
But then I looked toward the center. Inside the whirlwind I saw a sick creature with a hideous grin, laughing at making a wreck of my life. He was the master of lies and deceit and strife. I tried to jump off, but froze on my horse. I struggled and strained, but was stuck to that course. He kept planting suggestions of guilt and of fear. I screamed for help, but I knew no one would hear.
As I started to sink for about the last time, words began to make sense.
From a true friend of mine.
Little by little they all fell in place. Something about God and salvation by grace. Something about Jesus setting me free, something about him and his love for me. She said that he died on the cross for my sins, but my thoughts were too jumbled to grasp it till then. She told me the victory Jesus had won, what harm just to ask, and his name to be done. So I prayed for belief and for trust and for faith.
Then he softened my heart to receive his strength, and he lifted me off of that merry go round, and planted my feet on his higher ground.
He said, I'm your shepherd. My sheep know my voice. I could tell by his touch that I'd made the right choice. For once in my life, I received Peace of Mind. I could leave all my troubles and failures behind. He said just to follow him, not to look back. Your sins are forgiven. Just walk in my path and I'll show you what life with my father can be. His love is too big for the depths of the sea.
He has beauty in mansions and streets made of gold. Too much glory for those here on earth to behold. I will sing songs of worship, sing songs of praise. As I am nearing my goal, I am changing my ways. Thank you, dear Jesus, for pulling me through. Help me, dear Jesus, to be more like you. Thank you, dear Jesus, for rescuing me. Thank you for dear Jesus for letting me see.
Thank you for setting a course for my life.
Thank you for taking my guilt, fear, and strife. My prayer is to learn more about you each day and to share you with those who have not found their way.
It's a story of Bunny Mandel.
My friends were at the close of this gospel meeting.
The time for you to make your decision.
I've asked you in the audience tonight to pray.
I want to ask you again, as this meeting comes to a close, for that son, that daughter, that young person, that older person who is lingering tonight in doubt.
That this might be the moment that they would come to Christ.
I want to ask you to do as we were singing in that little hymn. Come, tis Jesus gently calling. I want to ask you to come to him simply by faith, to say, Lord Jesus, I come.
I'd like you to sing together.