Gospel

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Gospel—J. Hyland
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Let's ask God.
It's hymn #31 on the hymn sheet.
This hymn has been preserved to us in a remarkable way and sung by, I have no doubt, countless thousands over the last 122 years.
It was written in the year 1876 by a well known writer of particularly children's gospel hymns. His name was Philip P Bliss. Philip P Bliss wrote many hymns that we sing and appreciate even today. And I have been struck. I have had the occasion to drive through Rome PA and Rome PA is just a small rural town with no significance other than the fact that in that.
Town there is a large graveyard and in that graveyard there is a large monument erected to the memory of Philip P Bliss. It's a four sided pillar style monument. Some of his hymns are parts of his hymns are engraved in that monument and I have had opportunity on a couple of occasions to stop in at that graveyard and to see that monument and it reminds me of this hymn because.
Philip Bliss and his wife, whose home was in Rome, Pennsylvania. They had been home over the holidays just about this time of year, a little later in the year perhaps, and they were returning to Chicago, where they were doing some evangelical work and they were on a train.
And it was winter, and there were Potbelly stoves on that train to heat the wooden railway cars. And just the other day I drove through Ashdabula, Ohio.
And as the train that was carrying Philip Bliss and his wife back to Chicago from their holiday in Rome was coming through Ashtabula, it had to pass over a very deep ravine where had been erected a railway trestle. And as that train was crossing the ravine, the trestle broke and that train plunged into that ravine and you can imagine wood stoves burning.
Turned over and emptied of their contents into wooden railway cars, the train went up like a tinderbox.
And Philip P Bliss himself initially escaped from the burning inferno, but he couldn't find his wife. And so he returned to the railway car, and despite the flames and the smoke, he went to that car to search for his loved one, and neither he or his wife were ever found. But the Lord, in a very remarkable way, preserved this hymn, because in his briefcase, which was unhurt from the blaze.
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When it was opened, this hymn was found scribbled on a piece of paper, evidently having just been written by Philip P Bliss in 1876. And the Lord, I believe, has preserved this hymn. And I believe there has been much blessing through the singing of these hymns over this last 122 years. And as we sing this hymn, I want us to really consider the words that Philip Bliss penned, perhaps on that very train where he lost his life.
That day I will sing of my Redeemer. I wonder if you can sing that from your heart this evening. Are you going to be able to join heartily in the singing of this hymn in reality, or are these going to be words that perhaps you just sing once again? Because everybody is singing it, and it is the thing to do. I will sing of my Redeemer. Is he your Redeemer tonight? And his wondrous love to me? Have you tasted of that wondrous love of which we were singing in the last hymn?
On the cruel cross he suffered from the curse to set me free. Does that mean something to your heart tonight? Are you going to sing this with feeling? Are you going to be able to sing it from the heart? If the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from every stain of sin, He is indeed your Redeemer, and you can and will no doubt with joy be able to join in the singing of this hymn. But I want to bring before you very solemnly and earnestly at the beginning of this meeting.
That if he is not your Redeemer tonight, consider these words as we sing and I'll come tonight. He wants to save you. The very fact that he's drawn you into this hall this evening to hear again the story of his love and grace is just a proof of what is in his heart, his desire for your blessing. And it doesn't matter tonight if you're a boy or a girl, a young person, a middle-aged person.
Someone a little farther along in life. It doesn't matter what your age, It doesn't matter what your status in life. Those things don't matter tonight. What matters is that you come as a guilty Sinner and you receive God's remedy for sin, God's cure for sin, God's provision of salvation through this Blessed Redeemer that we are going to sing about in hymn #31.
If someone will please start it for us.
I will see.
Her.
On the curtain.
To send me crazy.
I will tell.
One restore.
My love.
To pray.
Bless his mind.
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I will pray.
My favorite.
And that is my heart.
Now.
I don't know.
Oh, Christian.
And he's called screaming my heart. I had a great day. You're my friend. Whereas this was gonna be right. It's just me.
I'd like to begin the meeting this evening by connecting 4 portions of.
The first one is in the book of Proverbs, chapter 27.
Proverbs chapter 27 and verse one.
Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. And then I want to read a verse that was read to us earlier in Hebrews chapter 3.
Hebrews Chapter 3.
And verse 7. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. The Book of James, Chapter 4.
James chapter 4 and verse 13 go to now ye that say today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain, whereas ye know not what shall be on the Morrow for what is your life. It is even as a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanishes away. And then the verse that is particularly on my heart in John's Gospel chapter 3.
John's Gospel chapter 3 and verse 16. 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. Well, as I say, I particularly have on my heart to speak from this verse this well known gospel verse in John's Gospel chapter 3A Gospel verse that has, I believe, been used in the blessing of countless souls.
Since it was penned by inspiration penned by the Apostle John under the direction of the spirit of God. But I read the three portions before this because I have been solemnized to think that there is perhaps someone here tonight who is toying with life and who thinks there's plenty of time to be saved. And I want to impress upon the hearts of each one of us, whether we're a boy or a girl or a young person.
Or an older person, perhaps, who is still lost and in their sins. I want to impress on each of our hearts the brevity of time, and as we begin a gospel meeting, there is always an urgency. A man was preaching the gospel in a certain city, and someone had come in to hear the Word who did not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. And at the end of the gospel meeting, as they were going out the door, they were asked what they thought of the gospel service that night.
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And their only comment was, well, he's pretty passionate about what he believes. And we are tonight. We're in earnest tonight. And young people, I look into your faces and I'm in earnest tonight. And God is in earnest tonight for your never dying soul because every one of us are on our way to eternity tonight. And what about you? I want to face this question at the beginning of the gospel meeting. Where are you going to be?
When you leave this world.
Where are you going to be?
You are going to be somewhere. You are not going to die like a dog. You are not going to be laid in a grave and have it over. It is appointed unto man wants to die. And after this the judgment. And every one of us must face the reality that eternity is before us. And you know, sometimes we use the expression spend eternity. I have no problem with that expression. I use it myself. But you know I want us to consider it this way tonight.
You really can't spend eternity. You can't spend up something that has no ending.
You can go down and spend a large bank account and we have heard stories and no doubt read stories of those who have inherited large sums of money and they have through their own.
Ways they have been squandered, that money they have spent it. Every time they go down and draw on it, the money becomes a little less. And you can spend a bank account, you can spend an inheritance, you can spend time, but you cannot spend eternity. It has no ending.
And I want to bring before you the reality of the finality of passing out of this world without Christ, and if there's someone here tonight and you've never tasted of the sweet, sweet love of.
Tonight, my prayer is that you just get one taste of that sweetness. Because if you could just get one taste of that sweetness tonight, I know you would come. It says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
How often have we experienced the fact that something was placed on the dinner table and we thought at first we wouldn't like it, But after being urged to try a little portion of it, we found that it was indeed palatable. We enjoyed it and we took more and more and more.
And that's the way it is with the love of God. Tonight God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But I say we have read some solemn, solemn scriptures as to the brevity of life. I read this verse first of all in the 27th chapter of the Book of Proverbs. You know, this is the 27th day of November 1998, when I was growing up in a Christian home.
I was often told and reminded that there are 31 proverbs, one for each day of the month.
And I thought perhaps it would be good to read the beginning of this proverb.
For the 27th day of November 1998, how relevant it is to the day?
That we find ourselves in Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Most of the hours of the 27th day of November have ticked by and we are coming to the end of that day in a few more hours.
Or are we?
Suppose suppose you draw that final breath before midnight.
Suppose the Lord Jesus were to come before midnight.
November 27th, 1998.
Where will you be?
With the Lord Jesus Christ in glory.
Rising in a moment to meet him in the air, and to be ever with the Lord, as it tells us in First Thessalonians Chapter 4. Or perhaps left in a seat like this, the speaker gone, mother gone.
Father.
Friends gone, the other young people gone.
All these are things we want to consider tonight. God promises us now, and He does not in His word in any way promise us tomorrow. He does not promise that there will be an opportunity to be saved tomorrow. And He does not promise you that you are going to walk into this building tomorrow morning or tomorrow evening and sit and hear the word of God read.
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He does not promise you that the door of mercy will be opened tomorrow, because that door is soon going to be closed. It tells us when once the master of the house has risen up and shut through the door, then they come and knock, and they're somewhat in earnest. But they knock. And they say, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he says, depart from me. I never knew you. You know, that's a contrast between the message tonight and what?
The lost will hear in a coming day, because the message tonight is come unto me. And for rejecters there will be a day when the message is sent depart from me. Isn't that searching to think about. 3 short words come unto me. There are boys and girls here this evening. Is that hard to understand? 3 short words come unto me. But there are three short words that will be uttered. I say to Christ rejecters, in the coming day, when the door of mercy is forever shut.
And those words will ring in their ears forever.
Depart from me. I never knew you boast not thyself of tomorrow. I remember three or four young men came to some Gospel meetings that we were holding and curling Newfoundland some years ago, and I watched those young men as they came to the meeting. They sat near the back, and it became quickly evident that they were there for no other reason than to disrupt the meeting. However, the Lord brought them in, and they heard the gospel.
But I'll never forget as they were standing around the tent door at the end of the Gospel meeting.
And I went out to those three or four young men and I said, fellas, I said, is it worth taking the chance of considering that there will be another opportunity tomorrow and putting off getting saved tonight?
You know what those young men told me? I tremble to tell you what those young men said. They said we'll take that chance.
We'll take that chance. Oh, I hope there's nobody here who's going to say I'll take that chance. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. And we have read another solemn entreaty and warning in the book of Hebrews today, if you will hear his voice.
Harden not your heart. Are you going to harden your heart tonight? And I was impressed. There was a prayer meeting a few minutes before this gospel began.
And I was impressed as one and another of the brothers poured out their heart in prayer on behalf of this gospel hour and on behalf of the salvation of souls. I was impressed, I say, with how many of those brothers poured out their heart on behalf of young people and children who sit in meetings like this from week to week and year to year.
I wonder if there's someone tonight and you have come to the Gospel meetings over and over and over again and from week to week.
And yet you go out of the door night after night, and you harden your heart against God.
Is that what you're doing? Are you hardening your heart against a God who loves you? A God who has provided at so great a cost salvation for you, A God whose arms are open wide tonight to receive you to himself? Are you going out of the doors of gospel halls like this and saying not tonight, not tonight? What does the word of God say today, not tomorrow, today, if you will hear His voice? Are you hearing these scriptures that we have read and that we are quoting?
Are you hearing them as the very voice of God to you? You know, boys and girls, It must have been wonderful when the Lord Jesus was here in this world. It must have been wonderful to go out on the hillside or down by the sea and to listen to the voice of the Lord Jesus as he spoke here in this world. It must have been wonderful on that occasion when he took those boys and girls up in his arms and blessed them.
But all tonight, he's speaking just the same. It's true the Lord Jesus is not here in this world. Tonight he is in heaven.
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He has returned to the right hand of God, but he is speaking nonetheless.
And God is speaking tonight through his word. Sometimes we ask the boys and girls what is this book called that we hold in our hands.
We get a variety of answers, but I believe the best answer that can be given is.
If the word of God, that's what it is tonight. Yes, it's the Bible. Yes, it's many things we speak of it, But it is above all tonight the word of God today, if you will hear his voice harden not your heart. And then I read those verses in James, and you know, I have been impressed recently to read and meditate on these verses.
And to realize that this is a very accurate description of people today. You know, people are in a hurry today and they're buying and selling and getting games. And everything is geared to get a good education, get a good job so you can compete on the marketplace, keep your computers up, all these kinds of things so that you can make progress and you can go into such and such a city and buy and sell and get gain and just go down to the airport in Saint Louis.
At 6:00 in some morning or any other busy airport on this continent, and you will see men and women going into such and such a city. They're shuffling around from Saint Louis to New York and from Ottawa to LA and from Toronto to Montreal and from Washington DC to Miami, FL. People are going into cities and buying and selling and getting gain every day, and that's fine, but what are they doing as they rush about, as their minds are full of business as they are living for the moment, and I believe people are living for the moment like never before.
Just living for today with no thought of tomorrow.
And this verse is a solemn warning to those who say we'll go into such and such a city and continue there and buy and sell and get gain. You know not what shall be on the Morrow for what is your life. It's even as a vapor. You ever watch the tea kettle as it begins to boil and the steam comes up? That vapor comes up and it rises. God says your life is like that. It says a vapor that appears for a little time. That steam comes up from the kettle. It appears for a little time, and then it vanishes away.
God says that's what your life is like. Young people I know that's hard to think about.
I don't know how old you are tonight. 12:13 14/18/21 I don't know.
You have your life before you, naturally speaking, and I know you're thinking about things, and I know there's burdens and I know there's cares. And I pity the young people today as they face the realities of life and the darkening day in which we live. But all I want to tell you if there's something more than preparing for this life, there's something more than a good college education. There's something more than having the latest computer equipment. There's something more than having the latest technology at your fingertips.
What about eternity? He ought to say. Notice this, he ought to say if the Lord will.
We shall live, comma. Isn't that interesting? Sometimes I read this verse like this. We ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall do it this or that. That's not what it says we ought to say. If the Lord will, we shall live. You know what was brought out in the reading meaning this afternoon? That by him all things subsist, and God gives you the breath that you breathe as you sit there in your chair. He gives you the strength to hold that Bible on your knee.
Do you realize that man goes on, he makes his plans, he has his schemes, but he forgets to say, if the Lord will, we shall live. You know, when Daniel was brought in before King Belshazzar, the greatest king of the day, I suppose he said these words.
The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways hast thou not glorified? It tells us in the New Testament He giveth to all life and breath, and all things. It tells us He's the preserver of all men.
And the very fact that God is giving you breath this evening is a proof of His mercy to you and His desire.
That you would listen tonight to the gospel message and to his fond entreaties to come to the Savior.
And that you would be saved, we ought to say, if the Lord will we shall live and do this or that. Well This brings us to the well known verse we read here in John's Gospel, chapter three. Let me just read it again, verse 16. 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.
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Now, as I read this verse, I think of an incident that took place many, many years ago in the Nelson River District of British Columbia.
Because there was a missionary, a young missionary. His name was Egerton Young.
And Edgerton Young had a burning desire to take the gospel to the native Indians in the Nelson River District. They had never heard, they had never known the light of the glorious gospel. And Edgerton Young took the gospel to them, and when he arrived amongst them there was a date set when he would present to the company, gathered the message that was on his heart from God's word.
And they say there were almost 300 Native Indians there.
And there were those there who were leaders amongst the people.
Those who were there with great pomp and ceremony and Edgerton Young, I'm sure with much trepidation, took his Bible and stood up before that congregation.
And he turned to this precious verse. He read it with much feeling.
He read it again and again, and for four hours. For four hours from this verse.
He told those natives of the love of God. He told them of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself on Calvary's cross. And with his heart full and tears streaming down his face, he brought before those Indians that God loved them and that he desired their salvation.
At the end of four hours, with his voice almost gone.
He sat down.
And all eyes seemed to turn to one of the principal chiefs of the people.
They were waiting for his reaction and they say with a great deal of pomp and ceremony, he arose to address the crowd.
He turned to Egerton Young and he said for a long time my heart has been empty.
For a long time I haven't believed in the concoctions of the Witch Doctor and the beat of the TomTom Drum and the things that go.
With our religion, he said. They have not brought me peace. They have not filled my heart.
He said, Mr. Young, you have brought a message today that has filled my heart with peace and joy for the first time in my life, he said, Stay as long as you want and tell us of the wonderful love of God. And tonight I can only hope to read this verse and to quote it a few times and in some feeble measure, tell you of the love of God.
In the few minutes that remain in this meeting. But all I want to tell you that God loves you with a love that passes telling. It passes knowledge. It passes finding out because He commended His love toward us. When? When we were good, when there was some response in US. Oh no, when we were sinners. There's someone here tonight. It was a Sinner and willing to admit it.
And yet not just admitting you're a Sinner, but admitting you're a helpless Sinner, not able to do one thing to get rid of one stain of sin. You know, I say that because I think if we were to go out on the busy streets of Saint Louis tonight.
And ask passers by on some busy street corner if they're sinners. I may be wrong, but I dare say most people, if they're honest, will admit that they're sinners, that they've done wrong things.
But to admit that they're helpless sinners is quite another matter. To admit that there's nothing they can do to rid themselves of one sin, I say, is quite another thing. You know, I might realize I'm sick, but as long as I think there's some home remedy that I can administer, something I can do to better my illness.
I'm not going to seek the advice of a physician, but as soon as I realize that this sickness is beyond anything that I can do for myself, then I seek the advice and the treatment of a doctor. The Lord Jesus said I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance because they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. So God so loved the world.
Think of this verse God. Think of this word God. The God that we were speaking about in the reading meeting this afternoon. Did you sit in the meeting this afternoon and have Hebrews chapter one read?
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And have those thoughts precious thoughts brought out concerning this person, and your heart went unstirred.
Oh, if your heart went unstirred this afternoon, I wonder what goes on within your heart. Think of this person, God, the creator of the ends of the earth, the one it says He measures the heavens with a span. We were hearing this afternoon, something of the greatness of the heavens. And they're getting telescopes and probes that control further and further out into the universe. And men are finding out just how big the heavens and the universe are.
He measures them with a span. That's the God we're Speaking of. Those heavens aren't bigger than the hand of God. It says in Isaiah 40, the nations are as a drop in the bucket. The islands are as dust before him. This globe is just a speck in God's great creation. And yet, God, I want you to notice this. He so loved the world. You know, if it said God loved the world, that would be wonderful. But I believe the word so gives intensity to what follows.
And all he brings before us His love in such a way that we can see how intensely God loves God, so loved the world.
What did he do to prove that love? You know, sometimes people say they love us and then we really wonder. We say, well, they don't really show that they love us by their actions and their speech, But oh, God hasn't just told us that he so loves the world, but he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
I know that the hearts of those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior tonight.
As we speak of God giving his Son our hearts rejoice and we say thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Think of the Father sending the Son. You know it doesn't say God sent Jesus. That's true. God did send Jesus, but the Father sent the Son. Isn't that more it brings before us the relationship, the Father sending the Son. I've often said I don't have any sons, but I have two daughters.
And I love those daughters very much and I don't believe I would send them out some morning.
If I knew that they were going to be taken and cruelly treated and put to death.
I would keep those daughters safe home at 63 Merrick St. Smith Falls, Ontario.
But you know when the Father sent the son?
God so loved the world that He gave. He knew what would happen. He knew that when his Son came into this world, this world would be an enmity against him. He knew that they would try to get rid of Him. He knew that they would reject him from the very beginning. And he knew, too, that the end of the course would be the cross.
He knew the cost, but he sent his Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it tells us in first John in this was manifested the love of God toward us.
In that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might be saved.
Through him.
Several years ago, when we had the privilege of being in Maine for the children's gospel work, we had that verse I have just quoted in First John Chapter 4 as one of the memory verses for the children as they came from day-to-day.
And we like to be able to explain simply what these verses are saying, what the message is.
And I wondered how we were going to explain the word manifested. I'm sure that's not a word that boys and girls use much, especially today.
And so there was a dictionary at hand, and I looked up the word manifested, and I've enjoyed it ever since.
The dictionary tells us that the word manifest means to clearly show and God tonight has clearly shown his love in the giving of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary's cross. When we look to the cross tonight, can we doubt for one moment the words that we have read here in John Three? God so loved the world. I know some of you have heard me tell this little story before.
I enjoyed history when I was going to school and we learned being Canadian.
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A great deal of British history and one of the interesting characters that we learned about was a man by the name of David Livingstone.
But you know when we learned about David Livingstone in high school?
They stressed the point that he was an explorer for the British government and that was true. He did map out much of that continent as an explorer for the British government.
But you know, later on in reading the life of David Livingstone, I realized that he had a far, far greater motive in going to Africa than just an explorer for the British government. His first and foremost motive was to go as a missionary and to bring the light of the glorious gospel to those who had never heard it before. And the story is documented that David Livingstone was staying in a certain village and preaching the gospel.
And there had been much blessing in that village, and many souls had been brought from darkness to light.
Many souls had been washed in the blood of Jesus and were rejoicing. But David knew that down the river there was another village, another settlement, where they had never heard the gospel.
But the natives that he was staying with had warned him not to go any further down the river. They said, David, if you go any further down this river, you'll never come out alive.
But all David's heart burned with a desire to take the gospel further down that river. And one day.
One day he and his wife and their baby.
Got into their boat and began that journey.
As they approached the area where these natives lived.
They were startled by war, whoops and cries, and to see figures running through the jungle brandishing all sorts of Spears and weapons.
And as they approached the shore, David tried to make those natives.
Understand that he had come in peace, and not for their harm, but he couldn't seem to convey the message to them. They stood there on the shore, waiting to take the life of he and his wife and their child.
After some time, David said to his wife with a great deal of feeling.
Give me the baby.
You can just picture the scene and the emotions that must have passed between a mother and a father.
As they see those natives ready to do them harm, and David says to his wife, give me the baby.
She hesitated for a few moments, and then she handed David their child.
And he stepped out of that boat toward the shore, and in his outstretched arms he held the child toward those natives.
And they said the effect was amazing, that immediately the message was conveyed that David had come for their good.
The child in his outstretched arms clearly showed what was in David's heart.
And he was able to bring the gospel to those natives, and there was much blessing and rejoicing as a result.
But all tonight God has held forth his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not withheld his only Son. He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. And the Lord Jesus has come and he came into the world to save sinners.
God, I say, has manifested. He has clearly showed his heart of love.
In giving his Son the Lord Jesus does not touch your heart tonight.
Is your heart stirred as we speak of the love of God? Is your heart stirred as we speak of that wonderful gift, His Son?
Is your heart stirred as we consider the love of the Lord Jesus? Who could say, Here am I, Send me.
Who could say I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me?
Who could say I have a baptism wherewith to be baptized? And how am I straightened until it be accomplished?
Who could go to Calvary's cross and offer himself there as that supreme sacrifice? That sacrifice of which all those animal sacrifices in the Old Testament were just pale reflections and feeble foreshadows of what was really in the heart of God? They all pointed ahead. There is a hymn we sometimes sing. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away its stain. But Christ the Heavenly Lamb took all our guilt away.
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A sacrifice of nobler name, and richer blood than they God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever.
Believeth on him.
All the messages for you tonight. Not wonderful. Now, when we were growing up, we would sometimes go down in the backfield and in the woods behind my parents home and we would get some old boards and pieces of tin and different things together and we would often build a tree house or what we called a Fort.
And then when the Fort was finished, there was usually a door on that Fort. And on that door there was usually a sign place that read something like this, no girls allowed or it read something like this, members only. And there had to be a certain password. And if you didn't know the password when you came and knocked on the door, you were refused entrance into that Fort. We had built something for a select group.
And we know that this goes on in every circle of society today. There are groups and clubs and all kinds of organizations formed for certain kinds of people and people with certain interests. But all tonight the gospels for all whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely. It doesn't exclude you tonight, young people, It's for you tonight.
Maybe you send in an application to a college or university and to your disappointment, you've got a refusal in the mail.
But all tonight there's a Savior whose arms are open in love, who desires you to come, And he's calling you tonight. Jesus stood on that last day, that great day of the feast, and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink whosoever will may come, and take of the water of life freely.
It satisfied that Indians hired in the Nelson River District so many years ago.
It can satisfy your heart tonight. It's that same water of life that's being offered.
It's that same precious savior. It's that same blood that cleanses from every stain of sin. Are you going to come tonight or are you going to refuse it?
Maybe you're watching the clock as the second hand ticks by the minute slip away.
And this meeting is going to conclude in 10 minutes or so. And you're saying, well, I'll be glad. I'm glad it's almost over. I'll be glad when I'm able to go outside and get some air. And it'll be a relief when these Bibles are closed and that man steps down from the platform. But I want to tell you tonight.
If that's your attitude, you're on your way to hell. But it doesn't have to be. Oh, I plead with you.
Don't go out these doors unsaved. Don't go out lost and in your sins. Don't allow another 8 minutes to pass by.
Because we may never leave this room in the way that we came in. Many of us may hear a shout. And with changed bodies. We're going to rise right through this ceiling. We're going to go right through this roof, because we're going to hear our blessed Savior come forth on the cloud. We're going to hear a shout and the trump of God.
And the dead in Christ are going to rise 1St, and we which are alive and remain, that's us in this building, who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
We're going to rise, and we're going to with them, meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be.
With the Lord that throws my heart, but it solemnizes my soul too, to think.
That there will be those who look around.
And they know what's happened. You remember in the Old Testament, when he lied, you was caught away in a whirlwind in a chariot of fire.
I've been struck with who missed him.
No, it wasn't the general populace in Israel. It was the sons of the prophets.
I wonder when the Lord comes, perhaps on an occasion like this.
Who will miss the believer?
Perhaps it will be the sons and daughters of praying parents, the young people of parents who brought them to gospel meetings, the young people of parents who at the dinner table opened the word of God and read a portion to them before they were excused, and told them the importance of coming to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior whosoever will.
Whosoever believeth in him all, it's a person that we're presenting tonight.
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It's the Lord Jesus Christ that we're presenting tonight. It's God's beloved Son because.
There's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Oh, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. Does he mean something to your heart? There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Do you know this person? It's a person tonight. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish.
Should not perish again. I wondered one time what the dictionary had to say about the word perish.
And I was staying in a home where the only dictionary available at the time was a Random House dictionary.
And I looked in the Random House dictionary to see what the word perish meant and I was disappointed with the definition.
It said this, the word perish means to pass out of existence.
Not according to the word of God. When I got home, I have a large Webster's dictionary.
On my shelf. And so I pulled it, and I looked up to see what Noah Webster had to say about the word perish. Because I believe Noah Webster was a Christian. This is what he says. The word perish means to die spiritually, you know, so awful is it to pass into a lost eternity, to pass into the lake of fire that the word of God refers to it as the second death, eternal separation.
From God.
Should not perish but have everlasting life. What a contrast between perishing forever to die spiritually, to pass into a lost eternity, and to be completely separated from a God of love forever.
Or to receive eternal life. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Are you going to perish in hell If you're not saved? You will.
If your sins have never been washed in the blood of Jesus and you pass out of this world, or the Lord comes tonight.
You will perish in hell for eternity.
But my friend, it doesn't have to be that way tonight. God loves you. He wants to save you. He's given you one more opportunity tonight to be saved. I'd like to tell just in closing.
Little incident that shook Eastern Canada.
Almost two months ago.
In fact, it's almost three months ago.
An incident that took place.
Off the coast of Nova Scotia and I have often had the opportunity.
To be in what is called Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. It's a very famous place, very picturesque, beautiful, rugged coastline.
A very unique little fishing village. You often see it on the pages of calendars and other articles.
But something very disastrous happened there on September 2nd this year.
On that evening, Flight 111, Swiss Air Flight 111 took off.
From John F Kennedy Airport.
Was about an hour into its flight and it was coming up and making a turn to go on to Geneva.
To cross the Atlantic and go on to Geneva.
And as they were coming approaching Nova Scotia, a distressed signal went out from the pilot.
His name was Errs Zimmerman, 50 years of age. His Co pilots Stefan Lowe 39 years, 38 years of age.
A distressed signal went out and 16 minutes later, that plane with 229 souls on board plunged into the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean just off Peggy's Cove, and every sole on that plane went into eternity in a moment of time.
I was impressed to read the passenger list of that plane.
There was a Saudi Arabia print Arabian Prince on that plane. There was a couple on their 25th wedding anniversary. A couple on their wedding trip.
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UN officials.
The only Canadian was a man who had was revered to be.
I believe he was an AIDS pioneer in the research of AIDS. There were other famous people on that plane.
There were no doubt, just ordinary people, we might say, people going home.
People going to travel, It didn't matter. It didn't matter if you were a Prince from Saudi Arabia with perhaps a fortune in the bank. It didn't matter if you just scraped enough to get the ticket fare to go home. Those souls in a moment of time, 16 minutes between the distress signal.
And the plunge that took their lives.
There was one man who should have been on that plane and wasn't.
His name was Mark Rose.
It was a Swiss, and he was in the United States.
For the US Open, he was a tennis player.
And he was scheduled to be on that plane that night, and at the last moment, he decided that he didn't have enough time to get from his hotel room.
To the airport and get checked in that it would be too rushed and he might as well stay over.
Till the next day.
I read that account in the paper and the reporter interviewed he and his manager.
And what impressed me in reading that account was the indifference of those two men.
As to what had happened, Oh well, it's just locked. It's the kind of thing that happens to everybody. And we're thankful he wasn't on that plane. But it was. He changed his mind and it was just that kind of thing, Complete indifference, nothing about God sparing his life.
Nothing about a voice to him from God.
Complete indifference.
You know God has spared your life to come to one more Gospel meeting tonight, and we have read and quoted some Gospel verses from this precious book that lives and abides forever. And my prayer at the end of this gospel meeting is that the Spirit of God would take.
These scriptures that have been read and quoted and that they would burn into your soul.
And that there would be imparted to you eternal life, divine life.
That gift that God is offering, and he is offering you a gift tonight. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I plead with you, do not go out of this room. Do not rise from your seat if you are lost and in your sins. Receive God's gift tonight.
Be washed in the blood of Jesus. Receive eternal life so that you know with certainty that you are on your way to heaven. Should you leave this world tonight in one way or another? I can't impress upon you the importance of coming and the importance of coming immediately. Don't put it off tonight. Come decide for Christ today and God's salvation. See.
Yields soul and body, heart and mind to him who died for thee. Let's pray our God and.