Gospel—A. Hayhoe
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He will save you. He will save you.
He will save your life.
I'd like you to turn with me, first of all, please, to the second Epistle to the Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians chapter 6.
And verse 2.
This verse was read to us at the Gospel Meeting last evening.
And it has been a burden on my heart ever since.
For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted.
And in the day of salvation have I suckered thee. Behold.
Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
Isn't that solemn language?
Behold now.
Is the accepted time. Behold now.
Is the day of salvation. We don't very often come across repetitions such as that in the word of God.
And I feel sure that the very heart of God is found in this language. And I want to tell you this, my friend, that as I read this precious book to you and to the need of my own heart, I trust that I may feel afresh. And I trust that you too may feel, if you've never felt it before, the very heart of God in these words. But these words came forth from the heart of God.
Indicted by the Spirit of God through the pen of the Apostle Paul. And it's merely my privilege and my responsibility to read them to you. Will you hear them, my friend, as the very voice of God to your heart? Behold now.
Behold, now God has a message for you, my beloved friend, and that message concerns the eternal destiny of your soul.
The eternal destiny of my soul. For just as surely as you and I are gathered together in this auditorium this evening, just so surely will you and I, in a day that is coming, stand face to face to the one who, in faithfulness and in love, put this message in this book. He is speaking to your heart with these words. Behold now.
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Is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
Sometimes, as we stand up in a place like this and look about upon those who are gathered here, we wonder whether the burden of our heart ought to be an unfolding of what the gospel is, an unfolding of the meaning of something or other in the word of God, or perhaps rather simply.
Of pleading with your soul, my beloved friend, to accept the Lord Jesus Christ, as your savior. For I am persuaded that there are many here who have heard the gospel from the days of your earliest childhood.
You've heard it, perhaps from father or mother, or a faithful praying Sunday school teacher. And you could stand up and answer the questions that might be addressed concerning the condition of the heart of man in God's sight, concerning the marvelous remedy that God in grace, at such a cost has provided. But when it comes down to this personal question between your soul and God, I ask you, my friend from the youngest child.
To the oldest one present. I ask you, Are you sure?
Are you sure?
Beyond any shadow of doubt that you're going to spend eternity with Christ in glory.
Oh, how many we meet that turn away, unable to answer such a question as that. Perhaps for a long time you've passed as a Christian, and you're kind of glad of it, because folks don't bother you quite so much. You're glad they consider you to be a Christian because you mingle with the other young people.
You intend to stay behind here and join in the singing of the hymns, But deep down in your heart, at this very moment, as that question was addressed to you, you were not able to answer. You're afraid to think about eternity. I stand here as one who passed through that very experience. I stand here as one who, in the days of my youth, sat between.
A praying father.
And a praying mother. And I was considered to be a Christian. My dear Sunday school teacher, I'm sure, would have given the testimony that he considered me to be a Christian. But deep down in my heart, when I sat under the sound of the gospel, I didn't want to think about eternity. There was no confidence, no joy in my soul. As the glories of being with Christ were unfolded. They held nothing but terror to me.
For even though I knew the gospel clearly.
I had never yet accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. I know this is an adult gospel meeting, but I must tell a little story here for the benefit of the children, and some have heard it before. It happened at a Sunday school treat in the city of Ottawa a long time ago in the winter time.
On our way out the door after that Sunday School treat, there were two of the Saints of God who stood one on either side of the door.
Offering to the dear boys and girls who had attended a bag of candy and an orange. And of course I accepted one of each. Then when I got home, I can still remember so vividly opening the bag of candy, dumping the contents out on the kitchen table, and being rather pleased with the size and quality of the bag I had received. And mother looked at it without a word and finally she said, Albert, where did you get the bag of candy?
Well, I said at the Sunday School treat.
Did they offer you anything else? And I said yes. They offered me an orange and I pulled the orange out of my pocket.
Did they offer you anything else? I said. No, mother. Are you sure, my boy?
I knew what mother meant. They had offered something else. The man had stood up there and played with us, boys and girls, to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, to accept as a gift the forgiveness of all our sins.
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And the assurance of a home in the glory. And I accepted the bag of candy. I accepted the orange. But I came home without Christ. Oh, I stand here with an overflowing heart of Thanksgiving for the long-suffering grace of God that brought me to himself. And I stand here tonight, my dear young friend, with a burdened heart for you. Are you sure about this matter? Can you truthfully lay your head down on your pillow this night and look up with joy and with confidence?
Based upon this most precious book, that the question of your soul's eternal destiny is settled forever. Are you sure that those sins are gone? Are you sure that you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
Our dear brother last evening brought out so faithfully and clearly from the word of God.
The wonderful truth of salvation, and we thank God for it. We shall never know the cost at which that glorious word is found in this book. And yet and yet it holds no charm to the heart of many. For I believe the thought of salvation brings with it man's guilt, and man doesn't like to be reminded of his guilt.
A gospel that involves salvation is man, generally considered suited for the man behind the bars.
Or the man down in the gutter of society. But As for the clean and respectable citizens of these communities, are they in need of a gospel that speaks of salvation? Are they not ready for the presence of God without any such thing as salvation being pressed upon them?
Thus, less than an hour before I started out to come here, I found myself for the first time confronted with.
What Americans would call a Congressman from our particular district.
We were introduced to one another, and I don't know what he'd heard about me, but just as soon as we were introduced, the conversation somehow turned to religious matters.
And he began to tell me about his church and a wonderful church meeting that he had just been attending. So I said to him, Mr. Doucette, do you know of any one that's ready to stand in the presence of God while God opens his books and looks at the record of their life? Are you ready for such a thing as that?
No, he said. He didn't know of anyone whom he would like to think was ready to stand in the presence of God upon the record of their own life.
And I said, Mr. Doucette, I stand beside you on that I could never stand before God and allow his eye to rest upon the record of my life and expect him to welcome me home to the glory. But let me tell you this, that the only remedy that God makes mention of in his precious book is the blood of Christ. 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. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And as we read in God's precious Word of this offer of salvation, may I remind you that it speaks to our hearts of a need, the guilt, the nakedness, the distance at which you are this very moment from God Himself.
Unless you know the Lord Jesus as your savior. If we went back to the first chapter of Luke's Gospel, we'd find there, even before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world, This wondrous prophecy to give the knowledge of salvation under his people by the remission of their sins. That's what it involves, my friend. Salvation means sins forgiven. Isn't that glorious?
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Is it possible for any of us with absolute certainty to look up and know that that question is settled, know that our sins are gone? Ah, my friend, the word of God says, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Can I not lay my hand upon this precious book and look up and believe with all confidence Him who wrote it?
If you will do that, my friend, if you will do that, you too will be the possessor of this wondrous, this mighty salvation. Turn aside from everything else, and justice, put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I was called to see a dear old man who was dying in our town some time ago. His name was Mr. Campbell.
It was very hard of hearing. His dear old voice was pretty shaky too, and when I walked into the room he pulled his hands out from under the covers and he began to tremble. All he said, I won't be here long. Do you think it's all right with me? I said. Mr. Campbell, please tell me what are you trusting in? And with a shaky voice and a lovely Scott accent, he said.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
That whosoever believe within him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Oh, but I haven't lived the kind of life I should. And he began to tremble. Oh, I said, Sir, would you like to enter the presence of God with John 316 in one hand, and your own life in the other, and hope for the best?
No, no, nothing but John 316. Oh my beloved friend, I presented to you.
As that which God in wondrous grace has supplied to meet the need of your heart and mind. And I stand here with deep Thanksgiving to say that God in wondrous grace, having seen the knee of my guilty heart far better than I could ever see it.
Has so loved this poor guilty Sinner that he has given the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who bowed his sinless, devoted head under the burden and guilt of my sins.
And therefore the judgment that I deserve until he could cry.
It is finished.
Also in the second chapter of Luke, dear old Simeon, he enters into the temple, and there he sees that little babe, And he takes the Lord Jesus up in his arms, and says, Lord, now let us thou thy servant, depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen.
Thy salvation. Oh, what a glorious picture is this. Simeon is not talking about a plan. He's looking at a person.
That even though it is but a child, he recognizes the one whom God has sent.
To accomplish the mighty work of redemption. And so, my friend, as we hold up this precious living word to you tonight.
We want to tell you this, that that which we have to present is not a plan, it's a person. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. Behold now, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation, I believe we find in the word of God.
Examples of those who acted according to the warning that we find in this verse.
For I believe there is both loving and treaty and faithful warning in this verse.
And that's just like the heart of God. Suppose our thoughts go back for a moment to the Old Testament.
In fact, let's turn back, shall we please, to the book of Joshua.
And there we will find someone who acted according to the wisdom pressed upon us in this verse.
The second chapter of Joshua.
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A second chapter of Joshua and the.
12Th verse.
Now therefore I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my Father's house, and give me a true token.
And that you will save alive my father and my mother and my brethren and my sisters and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
And the man answered her. Our life for yours.
Our life for yours.
Now the 18th verse.
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by. And thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto thee. And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless.
And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him the latter part of verse 21 And she sent them away, and they departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
We've read this story often before, have we not? Perhaps we have visualized this doomed and guilty city of Jericho.
We have seen the eye of God look down upon that city. We have seen the finger of God record their evil deeds from day-to-day. Is God still doing that?
Is he doing that only for those cities which you and I think of with a shudder of despair?
Let me tell you my friend, he's doing that for the town where I live. He's doing that for the city from which you came. He's writing down in some detail all that has transpired in the hearts and lives of men and women and boys and girls from day-to-day.
For the 4th chapter of Hebrews tells us all things.
Are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do, my dear boys and girls, dearly beloved young people, whoever you may be present. How does that verse ring in your ears?
All things.
Our naked and open under the eyes of him.
With whom we have to do. It's a Psalm verse, beloved friend, and I pray you to take heed to it tonight. I remember the first time that verse was impressed upon my heart. I had read it as you have read it, but I was sitting on a bench in a tent in Lawrenceville, New Brunswick, quite a number of years ago, and our dear faithful brother Willie Martin was standing up preaching the gospel. And all of a sudden, with his typical voice of Thunder, he called out that verse.
All things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
I knew the Lord as my savior, by His grace, had known him many years when I heard him preach that verse. But oh, I sat upright on the bench, and I thought, but for the grace of God, what terror that verse would strike to my heart. And yours too, my friend. Do you pretend to go on from day-to-day with a careless indifference, a provider, as though you were not the least bit afraid of the day when you'd stand before God?
That bravado will be gone someday. I warn you, my beloved friend, that verse is true. God is going to open the book at the page on which the record of your life is written. And not one thing, not one thought, not one word, not one deed, will be missing from that record. Do you know what flashed through my mind when I heard that verse? This glorious answer? Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man.
Is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believes are justified from.
All things there is God's answer. I say it with fearless joy, if God opened that book.
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Where my name is written at the top of the page. Do you know how many sins would be written there? Not one.
Not one. They're gone. The day came, thank God, when through the cleansing power of the precious blood of Christ, that piercing hand blotted that page forever whiter than snow. And the burden of my heart is that you too may know this unspeakable joy. You two may rest upon the confidence that is your right and title, if only you will accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
As your savior, God looked down upon this city of Jericho. The days of that city were numbered.
And so are the days of this poor world with all their boasting.
With all their achievements.
Very, very soon it's going to be reduced to rubble. Man's pride is going to be brought low. In that day the redeemed of the Lord are going to be up there singing. Thou art worthy, for thou hast slain, and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred tongue and people and nation. That what will take place down here.
The most fearful judgments of God will be poured forth.
Oh, as we read through the Book of Revelation, and chapter after chapter unfolds the awful, increasing severity of God's dealings with this earth, my heart trembles, most especially.
The sons and daughters of Christian parents, the boys and the girls.
The dear young people.
I'm going to ask you lovingly, and I want you to answer in your inmost soul.
When?
When did you last?
Lovingly, reverently speak to anyone about the Lord Jesus Christ.
I overhear a good many conversations between young people, and it's a deep thrill to my soul to hear them speak one to the other, of the preciousness of Christ.
But sometimes my heart is deeply burdened as I listen and listen and listen.
And fail ever to hear the sweet and precious name of Jesus.
Mentioned with love and with reverence.
Someone over in the dining room today told me how many days it would be to her wedding day, and I was glad to hear her say it. I shared those sentiments a long time ago and they have deepened a good deal since that day.
It's natural, it's, it's lovely and all. My friend, I want to tell you this.
That if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, it's a sweet joy to your heart to meditate upon him. It's a joy to your lips to confess Him. And I want to challenge you in loving concern to your soul when.
Recall it, please, beloved friend. Recall it. When? When did you last lovingly reverently?
Speak of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Perhaps, at someone's urging, you said that you were saved. Or perhaps you merely said yes when they asked you, And that's all there has been to it. But, my beloved friend, what about the person of Christ? What about the name of Christ? If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. My friend, pardon my prayerful burden for your soul.
But there are those, There are those whom I long to hear speak well of Christ.
And yet they pass among us as Christians. Are you among the number? If the shout came this very evening, If the shout came before this meeting were over. Are you sure, my dear friend? Are you sure, my dear boy, my dear girl, Are you sure that you would hear that shout and go up to meet him, and rejoice to be in his presence? What an awful thing it would be to be left behind.
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God looked down upon Doom Jericho, and let me just point out this thought, which has been a thrilled my soul. It took God six days of mighty power to create and bring into ordered existence this vast universe which we see around us and every living thing in this world. Six days. How long did it take him to destroy Jericho?
Seven days. Seven days.
Oh, what a long-suffering God. We have seven days. He sent the warning. He provided a way of escape and my purpose in turning to the passages this.
That the very day, the very day, in fact, I suspect, the very hour that Rahab the Harlot heard of the provision that was made.
For the salvation of all in her house, she hung a scarlet cord in the window. He was one whom I have often looked upon as one who valued that little word now to Morrow. Wouldn't do for Rahab.
She just couldn't lay down that evening without knowing that the scarlet cord was hanging in the window.
Are you going to go to sleep tonight with the wrath of God hanging over your head? Are you going to go to sleep one more night with those stains of sin still upon your heart? And the God who so loved you has once more tenderly pleaded with your heart that you might accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? You know, every Old Testament illustration falls noticeably short, of course.
Of the wonders of God's love in giving the Lord Jesus to redeem us. And the striking comparison in this little story I find in the 14th verse. The man answered her our life for yours. Isn't that striking? It didn't cost them their lives. They volunteered their lives for her safety's sake. But they weren't called upon to surrender their lives. But you know, when the Lord Jesus looked out upon this.
Poor sin stained rebel.
And the Lord Jesus loved me. I'll never know why. He looked down. He looked down and he said, my life for yours. That cost him his life. It cost him his life. He so loved me. He so loved you that he not only pledged your salvation and mine with his life, but He laid down his life. Hear his words, My life.
For yours. And then he offers you tonight the shelter of that precious blood.
Are you going to say tomorrow? Are you going to say sometime in the future? You know, who whispers such suggestions in your ears?
Rehab, thank God for it was one who valued that word. Now, today, and I believe we find another in the New Testament also who was a man that valued the word. Today, let's turn over to Luke's Gospel.
The 23rd chapter of Luke.
And the 39th verse.
This also has been read to us already. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive a due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee.
Shalt thou be with me in paradise.
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Do not read the rest of the story nor the introduction. I believe we know it well.
Here we find two men, 2 malefactors, 2 robbers, taken from prison that day, the very last day, the very last hours of their life on earth, and they find themselves, as we were already reminded, one on either side of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find them both joining and reviling and in mockery, but we find that one man.
One man, thank God for the grace of God.
Turns and says.
Lord, Remember Me? That's not a very long prayer, is it? Now come. If we had never read the rest of this story, Sometimes I like to do this as I read the word of God. I like to put my hand on the rest of the story and stop and say to myself, now, if I didn't know how this story was going to end, what would I expect? What would you expect? Here's a man who's lived a lifetime of transgression and guilt.
He's about to die for the wickedness of his life. He's been mocking the Lord Jesus with his weakening breath. Now he turns and he says, Lord Remember Me, Lord Remember Me. We have no indication that this man ever before in his life had met the Lord Jesus. The only instance in the Word of God of an 11Th hour conversion appears to be.
The case of one who apparently had never met the Savior before. And my friend, this may well be the 11Th hour for you.
It may well be the 11Th hour for anyone of this company.
Health and strength means nothing in these days. You may be even at this very moment in the 11Th hour. Are you willing to do as this robber did, and lay hold upon the precious promise of now today, and turn to the Lord Jesus by faith, and say with simple trust, as he did Lord, Remember Me? What an unexpected answer.
Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me.
In Paradise, Rahab, I believe, laid hold by faith upon that wondrous promise.
And was spared. The robber, too, valued the opportunity that was so briefly presented to him.
And turned and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. That I expect to meet them both in the glory.
Do you or you say that's not very nice company?
Oh my friend, by the world's standards, perhaps it's not.
But according to the word of God, do we not read? There is no difference, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And I greatly fear that one of the strongest hindrances of the day is that men have been brought up to believe that their record is far too clean ever to be addressed as a guilty Sinner. But the truth of God's faithful word nevertheless remains the same.
And the finger of God would point at your very inmost soul this evening and remind you that there is no difference, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I remember hearing one time of a man who became so burdened about the question of his sins and of his guilt before God, that he finally felt there was just no hope for him whatsoever.
It was all right for others. He could well understand God welcoming into the glory.
This one, and that one who had been outstanding in Christian testimony and service, but as far as himself was concerned, he felt that his heart was far too guilty, His life was far too stained with sin for God ever to make such an one welcome.
And you know, all the Gospel verses that were presented to him never seemed to get through.
To his needy heart and give him the joy of trusting the Lord Jesus.
And one night the Lord spoke to the dear man in a dream. He recounts the dream like this.
He stood outside, but near to the Gate of Glory.
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And he saw a company of people marching along, with triumphant smiles on their faces. And as they neared the gates of the city, the gates were swung wide open, and they entered with joyful confidence, and a mighty note of praise arose from it within the gates of glory.
And he turned to 1 Angel nearby and said, Who are these all? He said, those are the apostles and prophets of the Lord. He bowed his head. He realized that he would never, never have such a claim. He knew he never could get in, but he noticed a second company coming along, and they also seemed filled with triumph and with joy as they approached the gates of the city. And again the gates were swung wide open.
And again, a triumphant phrase ascended and the company entered.
The gates were closed and he questioned further on who are these?
These composed and noble army of martyrs.
Ah, he said. I thought so. No wonder they're privileged to enter their But there's still no hope for me. And he looked, and he saw a third company coming larger, greater than all the others, and filled with triumph and with joy. And in front of that great company, there were two whom he felt strange enough that he recognized.
One was the woman that sat on Sicar's well, the sinful woman of the city.
The other was the robber who died beside the Lord Jesus. He was amazed. He looked at this seemingly endless multitude. He saw them begin to enter the gates of the city. He heard a song of triumph ascend, which outshadowed anything he'd heard before. And he turned and said, And who are these? These are mighty sinners saved by mighty grace, he thought, This is where I belong.
He stepped among the number and joined them, and woke up with the confidence of knowing that even though his heart was stained with sin and guilt, and his conscience bore witness to it, yet he knew that there was room in heaven for even the chief of sinners. All my beloved friend, will you not this very night accept the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who so loved and died for sinners that you are entitled to that joy.
While we find this thief then turns and immediately.
Accept the Lord Jesus and find his place among the redeemed.
Rahab and the robber, both of them I believe, I find in that verse in 2nd Corinthians 6.
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. We won't take time to turn back to it, but if we went back to the book of Exodus, we would find there a sad contrast to what we've just been looking at in the case of Rahab, and in the case of the malefactor we find in the book of Exodus, a man renowned in this world. His name was Pharaoh.
His name was Pharaoh.
And he was presented by a solemn warning from Moses the servant of the Lord. Let my people go, that they may hold a sacrifice unto the Lord in the wilderness.
Then Pharaoh proudly says, Who is the Lord? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.
And the Lord's hand begins to be felt in that land, and one of the most astonishing things that I have found in.
Connection with the thought is this that when that land was overrun with frogs, one of the awful plagues.
Pharaoh in despair he called for Moses and said Moses.
Entreat the Lord that he will remove these frogs, and I will let the children of Israel go.
Moses said to Pharaoh, When would you like the frogs removed? When shall I entreat?
I'm sure we would naturally expect Pharaoh to say immediately, but strange Pharaoh, he says. Tomorrow, Tomorrow. I believe that was the character of the man tomorrow. Tomorrow was good enough for Pharaoh. And I believe, my dear friend, that as the hand of God came down more and more solemnly upon that land, Pharaoh put off again and again the warning voice of God.
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Until at last he perished under the waters of the Red Sea. He was a man of tomorrow, not today.
Though I hesitate to see this meeting drawing to a close. The announcements have been made about tomorrow, but they've all been made, I noticed. If the Lord will now, What about you, my beloved friend, in the state of your soul? Before God is going to be now is it going to be now? Tomorrow won't do.
Tomorrow what? Do I have no doubt that the name of Pharaoh went down in history, and still is handed down as a man of great renown in the history of Egypt and of the world. But where is Pharaoh now? Where is he now?
At this very moment, as you and I are listening to the gospel of the grace of God, Pharaoh is in a lost eternity.
Have you ever thought about that beloved friend, those that we read about in the word of God? Who when did we eternity without Christ? Where are they now? Still, at this very moment, as you are listening to the gospel of the grace of God, the men and the women who went out of this world without Christ are in a lost eternity. They're there forever.
They know their destiny. And my beloved friend, as I look into your face.
And see you sitting here, listening to the gospel of the grace of God, and realize with a burdened heart that someday, and it may be before this day is over, that your soul will be.
With Christ in glory, or in a lost eternity, the eternity of the damned. Tell me, beloved Friend, whose lips, whose lips speak the kindest, most loving words that ever were heard on earth.
You know the answer. The lips of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Whose heart was the most kind and tender heart that ever beat on earth? You know the answer. The heart of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we find coming from His heart and from his lips when he was here? The most solemn, solemn warnings concerning an eternity of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth? Are those words an exaggeration?
Are the pictures painted in God's word and exaggerations? They are not my friend.
They are a solemn reality. There are times when the hand of God has been felt in this and that community, speaking to men, and their hearts have trembled but for a moment. When the hand of God is removed, they seem to turn back so quickly to their indifference and their bravado. I remember. I believe it to have been the hand of the Lord.
That I, as men would say, happen to be.
In Spring Hill, Nova Scotia, the number of years ago when there was a very serious mind disaster there.
Over 100 men were trapped.
18,000 feet below the surface of the earth. I know perhaps you think I'm making a mistake, but I know it to be a fact. 18,300 feet was the level in which the men were working.
When the mine collapsed.
I stood at the pit head, and I watched the wives, the countenances of the wives, the mothers, the children, the sweethearts, as they paced up and down while men burrowed frantically through the stone and rubble, trying to reach the men entombed there. There was no bravado. There was no indifference. There was no carelessness.
Body after body was brought up and carried away and weeping to their homes.
11 men were brought up alive.
I went into the hospital and visited those men 1 by 1.
I asked them about their experience down there. Eight days. That's not very long. 8 days in outer darkness. No food, no drink, Not a ray of light.
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For 8 long days, not knowing whether they would be brought out or not.
My beloved friend, don't tell me that the hand of God doesn't speak here and there, the various communities. And don't tell me that God, in loving faithfulness, has not spoken to your heart before this.
Eight days in utter darkness, if you had seen the countenances of those men.
If you had been privileged to sit with me on their bedside.
And have them tell what they went through.
My friend, I think perhaps you'd have just a little. No, I dare not compare it. I dare not compare it. Eternity, eternity, unending eternity, and outer darkness with the memory, my beloved friend, the memory that you could have had Christ as your Savior.
You could have had Christ as your Savior, that very Lords Day evening in Wheaton. You could have had those sins washed away.
And you went out without Christ. Pharaoh was a man of tomorrow. I'm afraid that Felix, also in the New Testament, was a man of to Morrow He had the beloved apostle Paul stand before him, and reason with all earnestness of righteousness, temperance, and judgment. And Felix trembled. Felix trembled before the sound of the gospel.
And he looked Paul in the face and said, Go thy way, go thy way. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. Where is Felix tonight?
Where is Felix? He was a Roman governor, a man in high esteem.
Pharaoh of Egypt. Felix of Rome, man of renown. Where are they now? They're gone, my friend, into the darkness of a lost eternity.
Rahab.
And the robber, Thank God. Thank God I'm going to spend eternity with those whose sins have been washed in the precious blood of Christ. What will it be, my friend? Will it be now? Will it be now? Right now, while you're sitting on that chair?
Oh, you say. Perhaps when The thing is over, Perhaps when I get to my room. I really feel that it would be wise for me to have this question settled. What about right now? Behold, now, place repeated in that verse. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
A number of years ago, the gospel had gone forth in solemn power in the city of Boston, and when the meeting was over, there seemed to be a sense that the spirit of God was pleading with men. There was a silence, and no one rose. Finally, a dear old man, almost bent over with age, walked up to the front and turned around. And he said, May I tell of an experience that happened years ago?
When I was skipper of a sailing vessel in the Caribbean and he told of this occasion.
When they were sailing through the shark infested waters of a certain area in the Caribbean, they were making good progress and all of a sudden there was a splash at the bow of the boat and the frightening cry was wrung man overboard. While there was a seaman standing at the stern of the boat, as soon as he heard the cry he watched and as the ship slipped past the struggling man in the water, he flung out a rope to him.
He flung out a rope, and it landed right by him. And immediately by you say, of course, what else would the man do? Immediately he grasped that rope with both hands, and they pulled him back on board the deck. And then the old man said, And we went up to that man and found that he could not let go of the rope, and we had to take his fingers.
And pry them loose from his hold on the rope. We found the fibers of the rope embedded in the flesh of that man's hand.
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And he went and sat down.
He was trying, my beloved friend.
Trying to impress upon those who were listening that God was giving them yet one more and it could be the last opportunity.
To accept God's great salvation, God will not be mocked. The cost of that salvation my beloved hearer was nothing less. And the blood of God's Son, Lord Jesus Christ. If God could turn and forsake that blessed one, while he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, If God could tell us that the blood of Jesus Christ.
His son cleanseth us from all sin, and then plead with us. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. My dear friend, what answer will you give him in that day when you stand before him? For stand before him you will, stand before him you must.
The dear boys and girls, dear young people, I am going to stand in his presence.
I'm going to stand there and praise him with an overflowing heart.
The love that sought me and found me for the blood that has cleansed me from every stain of sin.
But I want to see you there too. I want to see you there too. But I say again, stand before him. You must stand before him. You will. Will it be welcomed into those courts of eternal glory, redeemed by his precious blood? Or will it be to hear him say, depart from me?
Into outer darkness. Oh, May God grant that if there are those present tonight, and I feel undoubtedly such is the case, those present who do not yet know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, may it ring in your ears so that you will not leave this meeting place until the question is settled. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
We sing the last stanza of hymn #2.
The.
Could we rise and sing the last stanza of #2?
Angel holes are building.
By.
Reason.