Gospel—Paul House
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Well, welcome tonight to the Gospel meeting, and I'd like to sing a hymn in the Little Flock and #49 in the appendix.
49 in the appendix and if you someone can start that for us please.
If I want there is one.
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I just want to read a little verse that I enjoyed in my own reading a few days ago.
It's in Second Corinthians chapter one.
And this is in verse 11.
I'm going to pray now and ask the Lord's help, but I would just read this verse first for each one in this room who belongs to the Lord Jesus.
He also helping together by prayer for us.
So my desire is that each one who is a believer here in the room.
Would pray as I do and through the meeting that there may be salvation for.
Someone tonight who is not saved yet. Let's pray. Our God and our Father, we just, we give thanks for this. Another privilege to have a gospel meeting.
The talk about the crucified one, thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and now we would pray to thee. Our God is the one that knows every heart, every life, every person in detail here tonight who's looked down on our lives since we were born.
Knows everything. And we just would pray that if there's somebody here tonight who is not saved, who has never accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior, that tonight they may come just as they are. They may accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And we would just thank Thee tonight for our salvation. Each one who belongs to Thee by grace were saved, not of ourselves.
We were wrought and sinners that deserved hell just as much as anyone else.
We thank Thee for thy goodness to us, our God and our Father, and we just ask for help tonight.
And we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
You know, you know, you may say to yourself, why do I come to gospel meetings on a regular basis and.
The reason I like to go to gospel meetings is I like to hear about the Lord Jesus one more time and how he gave himself for me. But there's another purpose I have for going to gospel meetings and that is so that I can tell the gospel through the week to people, to my customers for instance, or people that I've met and I can tell them about the gospel, meaning that I had the privilege that to be out on Sunday evening.
And how the gospel that was given out, how it would apply to them.
And so last week when I was in gospel meeting in Reno Ferry at home where I live.
There was a man called Francois Leger who had the gospel, and it was an excellent gospel. He told a story that really touched my heart. And I want to just tell the story at the very beginning because it was a very, very good story. And I've told this through the week and the story goes like this years ago, and it was a long time ago, there was a man that was a landlord.
And he had.
A series of tenants that rented properties from him and one of the people who rented from him was an old lady and she didn't have a lot of money and times were tough and so this landlord really cared about her and.
He went to see her and he knocked on her door and she saw him coming and she said, oh, he's after the rent. I don't have enough to pay the rent right now.
So when he knocked on the door, she hid down behind the cupboards so that he wouldn't see her. And he knocked and he knocked and he knocked and she didn't answer the door. Finally, he went away, and a couple days later, she was in the market buying groceries and who would come by but the land board. And she's like, oh, man, I'm going to have to talk to him.
So she talks to the landlord and the landlord said, you know, I came by your place a couple of days ago.
And my desire was I had a box of food that I wanted to give you, but you know, you never, never answered the door.
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And so this landlord, he wasn't there to collect the money her the rent that she owed. He was being kind to her and brought her a box of food and she missed out because she didn't answer the knock on the door. And I want to just say to you that are here tonight.
You know if you're saved or not, I don't know. You know, you know, if you've ever asked the Lord Jesus to be your own Savior, And I hope that each person has done that, but you know, if you haven't, you're missing out. You're missing out.
You're the one that.
That's losing, you know, that landlord. He wanted to be kind to that poor lady.
He brought her food. He wanted to be kind to where he wanted to show her love. And she said no, no thank you. Are you saying that to God tonight? Are you saying no thank you? I don't want your love. You know, I was talking to a man this week about his soul and I said to him, do you have any idea what an insult it is when somebody says to you, go to hell?
You've heard people say that, haven't you? People have said that to me. Believe me, that's an insult, one of the biggest insults I can think of. And you know, people who say go to hell do not understand how horrible that place is.
And I said to this man, I said, you know, you've heard that before, haven't you? He said yes. I said, you know what hell is like.
And you know what he said? He said no, I don't.
And I was able to tell him a little bit about health. And you know what? I don't know how bad it is, but I told him that hell was prepared not for men and not for women and not for boys and not for girls. But it was prepared for the devil and his angels who disobeyed God and who ruined this world.
Who ruined everything and want to ruin everything? That God?
Does that's good?
And I said, if you accept the Lord Jesus.
You get to go to heaven, you get the box of food like that Lady could have had, but instead she said no. And are you saying no to night to God? Are you saying no? I really don't want your kindness 'cause if you are, you're saying I want to go to hell.
Because that's the alternative. There's only two places. There's heaven and then there's hell. And if there's somebody here that's never accepted the Lord Jesus as their savior.
Then you're going to hell.
And it's horrible, the blackness of darkness forever. That's what hell is where there's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Is that what you want? I don't want that, and neither did the man I was speaking to.
He thanked me for telling him the gospel, but as far as I know, he hasn't come yet.
And take in the box of food. But you tonight have the opportunity to come one more time. You have that opportunity. You're here, you're listening to the word of God being spoken. The good news that God is love, that God sent his Son, the Lord Jesus. We sang about it, that he was crucified on the cross. And can you say tonight he was crucified for me?
If you can't, there's a problem.
And tonight, our desire and our prayer, Like I said at the beginning, I want you all who are believers to pray through the meeting that if there's somebody here that can't say he died for me, by the end they'll be able to say I'm saved, I'm ready to go. I don't have to go to hell. I don't have to burn. I don't have to be miserable for all eternity. I'm safe.
I'm happy, I'm satisfied.
Now you know when I was a boy.
And that's a long time ago now.
I had a mom and she's still alive and she still loves me. And, you know, before the meeting, I sent her a text message and I said mom.
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I have the gospel meeting at the camp in Michigan. Can you pray for me? And you know, my mom loves the Lord Jesus. She told me about the Lord Jesus. That's how I got saved. She told me how the Lord Jesus died on the cross for me. And you know, now I have the privilege of saying, mom, can you please pray for me?
And my mom, I'm sure, is praying for you tonight if you're not safe now.
There were reasons why I remember that I didn't get saved.
There was a time when I sat in my chair in meetings like this and I said no to the Lord Jesus, and I remember that. And are you saying no tonight till the Lord Jesus and his love for you?
Are you saying no? Don't say no. Say yes. Thank you.
Well.
Finally, I accepted the Lord Jesus as my savior, and I don't know when I accepted the Lord Jesus as my savior. I don't know what day it was. I don't know how old I was, but my mom told me she knows that I got saved because I changed. You know, I was a bad boy.
I was a very bad boy. I got into trouble all the time. My poor dad and my poor mom had to discipline me all the time. I was a royal nuisance.
And you know what? I was the black sheep of my family.
That's a miserable thing to look back and to think about the things that I did that pained my dad and my mom. But what about the Lord here? He put me in a Christian home.
He put me into the assembly and I didn't value it. Shame on me. I said no to the Lord. But finally I came and accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. And I'm so thankful I did that. And tonight, are you thankful that your sins are gone? That you get to go to heaven to be happy and fruitful forever?
I look forward to heaven.
Well, there was a time where the Lord was knocking on my heart. He'd save me, and thank the Lord He did. But then there was a growing desire inside my heart.
To respond to what he'd asked me to do.
So before the Lord Jesus went to the cross, before he suffered for me.
And before he suffered for his disciples, he said to them.
Remember Me in my death.
And so as a young person, I knew that I should ask to remember the Lord. I knew that, but I was afraid to. And you know the enemy of my soul, he didn't want me to honor the Lord and obey the Lord, to worship the Lord and to show my respect to him either. And so.
He gave me reason after reason, excuse after excuse so that I wouldn't.
Asked for my place at the Lord's table.
Well, one day I, by the grace of God, did so.
I went to Mr. Van off Wigan, who is an older brother in the assembly and I said brother, I'd like to be in fellowship, the Lord's Table. I'd like to remember the Lord and he said Paul, that's so nice. He encouraged me and he's encouraged me my whole life. But.
When I got home, I told my dad and my mom.
They were thrilled.
But my mom said to me afterwards, she said, you know.
You know, the brothers are probably going to come and have a little talk with you. And I was afraid of that. That was one of the reasons why the devil kept me from asking. I was afraid because he said, hey, they're going to ask you a bunch of questions. You remember I'd been a bad boy, so.
My mom said to me, she said there's a verse in John chapter 6 and I want to turn to that now.
Verse 37.
She said they're probably going to ask you something along these lines. They're going to say well.
You know, Paul, how long have you know? Are you sure that you've belonged to the Lord Jesus? She said, Paul, what first would you give? And I said, well, I don't know what I'd say. She said, well, let me tell you one that I've really enjoyed for myself. And then you can have that and know where it is. And if that's appropriate for you to tell the brothers, then you can. Well, this verse has grown in importance to me over the years, but it's verse 37.
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And it says all that the Father giveth me.
Shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. You know this is anybody.
Everyone in this room can come. There's not a single person that can say I'm too bad. You know? The Bible, caught in his wisdom, is so wise. Even the worst Sinner has already come.
You know the chief Sinner, he said I'm the chief, but he's come the apostle Paul, he's already saved the worst. So if you come to the Lord Jesus tonight, he'll take you just as you are. I so enjoy this verse him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
So the question I would like to ask you is, have you come?
Have you come? And if there's somebody in this room that says no?
I haven't come then tonight. Come, come to the Lord Jesus.
Just as you are.
Now we're going to turn over to the 12Th chapter of the Book of John.
And I want to introduce the subject that I want to speak about tonight.
John, Chapter 12.
And verse 32.
It says and I if I be lifted up.
From the earth will draw.
All men unto me this, he said, signifying what death he should die.
You know, this is a little aside, but I'll tell you another story. When I was a boy growing up in Ottawa.
There was an old lady in the meeting and she was a very special old lady because she always used to wear a coat that had minks.
Around her collar. I remember that as a boy thinking, wow, she's got animals on her coat. But it was a really nice coat and she was a extra nice lady. It was actually the mother of John Kemp, Missus Kemp. Her name was Dorothy Kemp. And when Dorothy Kemp was a younger lady, she.
Taught Sunday school.
In a little town South of Ottawa.
And one of the students in her class was a man by the name of George Beverly Shea. Do you know that name? He was. He sang with Billy Graham. And so George Beverly Shea was in her Sunday school class. And that always impressed me that she knew him. And I just have enjoyed him singing this.
Little verse so many times, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me.
Now.
The next verse is what we sang about at the beginning, this he said, signifying what death he should die. And I don't think there's anyone in this room tonight that doesn't know how the Lord Jesus died on the cross.
You know, I work in the type of work where I often get cuts and bruises and scratches, materials, slipper, they're sharper, whatever it is.
And you know, there's when you bleed.
Then there's pain, right?
And I've just thought a little bit about what it means to be crucified. And that wasn't the only thing that happened to the Lord Jesus. We're going to read a little bit about that maybe in a few minutes, but Can you imagine?
Putting having a nail right through your hand.
A nail right through your foot.
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A nail.
Through your other hand, a nail through both of your feet.
Imagine the agony of that.
You ever thought about that in connection with the worst injury that you've ever had?
What is the worst thing that's ever happened to you physically? Have you lost a finger? Have you? I don't know what it may be. What is it? You can answer that yourself, but then think of how the Lord Jesus had to suffer there on the cross.
How he was crucified. He was lifted up to die.
It says, you know, it wasn't just.
That he was going to be hanging on the cross.
But it was so people could watch him die.
Could watch him suffer, Could see the pain.
And could be happy they were getting rid of him. He was lifted up. But you know, this little expression lifted up, it makes me think of God and what he saw that day. He saw his Son crucified.
Hanging on a cross, people making fun of him, the Son of God.
On a cross, Can you imagine the insult to God that man hath done the judgment that is coming on this world, and people say, well, God wouldn't send anyone to hell.
Why wouldn't he?
And if you say no to the Lord Jesus and his love tonight, that's where you're going.
And you deserve to go because you've sinned before a holy God, and because.
Your heart is the same as the man who hung Jesus on the cross.
Now I just want to turn to a verse in Isaiah 53 and we all know this verse, or at least we should. Isaiah 53 and verse.
Six, it says, all we, like sheep, have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him.
The iniquity of us all this morning we spoke.
We read someone read to us about the precious blood of Christ.
Is that blood of the Lord Jesus precious to you? I can assure you that it was precious to God when he saw it.
The precious blood of Christ. But here we have a little bit more about when he was lifted up. It says the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And another brother read that this morning. But how the Lord Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree.
Now let me ask you this, you people in the back that aren't paying attention.
I want to know if the Lord Jesus.
Has borne.
The iniquity for your sins. Have you ever asked the Lord Jesus to be your Savior?
You have the opportunity to do so tonight. May you? Now I'd like to read a story, Back in Numbers, Chapter 21.
And you know, it's important for us to listen in the meetings. So two weeks ago in the meeting where I go to in Rio Ferry.
My brother read these verses in the morning meeting on Lord's Day, Numbers chapter 21. And you know, it's important for us to hear versus read, but it's important to think about those verses afterwards. You know, there's a verse in the Proverbs that talks about.
The slothful man not roasting that which he took in hunting. So last night our brother Steve mentioned a lot of things and you know, I'm getting old. I can't remember things very well, so I have to write them down. Now if I just write them down and never look at that page again, do I benefit from that?
So I wrote for 45 minutes. Is that?
Was that a waste of time? It is if I never roast what I took in hunting.
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By never review it. If I never think of it again, then I don't benefit from it. So let's let's just pay attention in meeting why so that will benefit from it. That's why. And if you can't remember like me, then write things down so that later you can go back and say, hey, what did Steve say?
Oh, yeah. OK, so there was Judah. He was somebody that was involved in sheep shearing, and so was Absalom, and so was Naboth Nabel.
I learned that what that meant this meeting last night. Now I can benefit from it. That's just an example. So here this brother read two weeks ago this story in numbers 21.
Since he read the story, I've read it a few times. Why? So that I'll benefit from what was read. And that's why it's important for us to read the Word of God and to think about it.
OK, so Numbers 21 is a story about the children of Israel when they left Egypt and they were rocking toward the promised land in Israel.
And in verse four it says, and they journeyed from Mount Horror by the way of the Red Sea.
Compass the land of Edom, or to go around the land of Edom.
And the soul of the people was much.
Discouraged because of the way and the people spake against God.
And against Moses.
Wherefore have ye brought us up out of the land of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread, you know.
I'm no better than those people. And you know what, neither are you. You know, the Bible says that all have sinned. The man I was speaking to on Friday about his soul that I spoke of, we talked about that verse.
That all have sinned and come short. And I said to him, I said in the Olympics.
There is a bunch of swimmers that are in different lanes, swim in a certain stroke and they decide who the fastest swimmer is in the world and they give them the gold medal, right? That's how it works. I said, OK, so let's take the 10 best swimmers from all over the world, one that got the gold, two that got the silver, three that got the bronze, and so on all the way down to 10. We take him to Vancouver.
Or Seattle.
And we say, OK guys, you're good swimmers, I want you to swim all the way to.
Japan, they look at me and they go, you're crazy, we can't do that, but you're good swimmers.
Why can't you do that?
But you know, all of us have sinned. We've all come short. We can't make it on our own. That's what it means. And if there's somebody here tonight and you're short, you've come short because you're not saved yet. You have a problem. You have a big problem. You just like the swimmer.
In Seattle that says I can't do that. And you know what? They're right. They can't. They might be great swimmers. You might have a great personality, you might look wonderful, you might have tremendous abilities and talents. But could you swim all the way to Japan? And you can't get to heaven on your own either. It's impossible. How can you get to the presence of God in your sins? No way.
It can't be done, and the Bible assures you that you can't be. You can't get there on your own.
OK, so these people are murmuring and complaining. I've done that. I do that all the time. I complain about this and that. I hate paying my taxes. I hate waiting on the highway when there's an accident. We waited 25 minutes on Interstate 96. Do you think I was happy about that? No. I was whining and complaining, saying hey, no, don't the people in Michigan have their act together?
Right. And we've all done that. We've all complained.
We've all said things we shouldn't have said, right?
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I remember one time I said something to my brother when I was a kid and it was so bad. My mom took me to the sink. She said Paul, open your mouth and she took the Palmolive dish soap and put it in my mouth.
And I've never forgotten the taste of that. It was so bad it burned my lips, my tongue.
But she made the point I said the wrong thing. I swore. Have you sworn? Have you said the wrong thing? Because my mom heard what I said. She got the dish soap and she applied it to my mouth. But everything you have ever said, everything you have ever thought.
Has been written down and recorded by a holy God that never has made a mistake and never will.
And were guilty before God in our sins. And if there is somebody here tonight?
And you're lost, you're not saved. The Lord Jesus says, Come unto me.
And be ye saved. Now we're going to read a little bit further.
It says in verse six the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people.
And they bit the people, and much people of Israel died.
You know, I think of this as being like sin. It bites. You know, there's consequences to our sins and we may not have them right away. It may be years and years later, you know?
I'm going to tell you another story when I was at Otter Lake when I was a kid.
I played a trick on another young person.
But guess what happened? About 20 years later, I met.
That young person.
You think he remembered the trick I played on him? He sure did.
And I did too. I hadn't forgotten for 20 years. And guess what? My conscience was still working. I'd been unkind to another young person. How did that affect his walk with the Lord? Was I encouragement to him to pay a nasty trick on him? No, I was not. Was that a good thing before God? No, that was wrong.
Is there consequences? Yes.
I had to tell him I was sorry.
You think it's real fun to tell somebody 20 years after you did something, it was you're sorry. I waited how long to tell him, But by God's grace I was able to tell him and we're good friends. He forgave me. So thankful.
Now verse seven. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee.
Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
You know what's interesting in this story is that Moses or the Lord didn't take away the serpents, but He made a provision so that the people could deal with the effect of the serpents.
And you know when we get saved, the Lord Jesus doesn't.
Just clean up our heart. He gives us a new heart. We still have the old flesh that we're born with, but He gives us a new life that's capable of pleasing Him. That's perfect, just like the life of Christ.
The very life of Christ.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole. They came to pass that.
Sorry. And it came to pass that if a serpent.
Had bitten any man when he beheld the serpent of brass He lived.
You know, the other day when I was working, we were working on a cottage by the river and we're eating lunch.
And one of the guys that works for me says, hey, look down there. And I look down there and there was a snake in the water swimming along. And this snake was probably this long and about this big around. You know, I hate snakes. I did not like that for one moment. And you know, there's not too many people who like snakes.
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And Can you imagine the multitudes of people that were all around this day?
And all these fiery serpents are zinging around between the tents, you know, and its fiery serpents. Because what I've read is that when they were bitten, the the bites got red and dark and fiery.
And so if you can imagine you're in your tent and you've got it all closed up and all of a sudden the snake comes in and bites you, then you have a choice to make.
Either you die.
Or you open the door of the tent and you look up at the pole with the serpent on it, and you get better. And tonight you have a choice.
You can open up the tent door and look at the Lord Jesus Christ and get saved tonight. Or you can say, no, I don't want His love. I don't want the box of food. I'm just fine the way I am now. I want to tell you about another man that I worked with years ago.
He told me that he had never sinned.
He got mad at me when I told him that he did.
About two months ago, I went to his funeral.
There was a lot of other people there. At the end of the funeral, when everybody was streaming out, they played a song. You know what the song was? The song was.
I'll do it my way.
That characterized him his whole life.
I'll do it my way. Is there somebody here tonight that's doing it your own way?
That says I got bit by a snake. I know I'm a Sinner. I know I'm going to die.
In my sins, I know I'm going to go to hell and you won't open the tent door and look up to the Lord Jesus Christ in simple faith and say, Lord Jesus, when you died on the cross, will you die for me? I want you to take my sins. I want you to pay for them. I want you to forgive me. Please, God, won't you do that? That's it's as simple as that.
To ask the Lord Jesus to be your Savior.
Won't you do that tonight? You say the preachers being very simple, but it is. It's very simple come just the way that you are.
And ask the Lord to wash your sins away. He'll do that well.
This man, Moses, he was so such a great leader, God's people, he failed himself.
But you know, I can just see him in my mind making this.
Serpent of brass and putting it on a pole so the people could look at it. You know, I think of him a little bit like me tonight.
I'm just telling you what somebody else told me.
You know, God told Moses what to do and Moses did it. And people who benefited from it, they benefited from it. And you know, somebody told me the gospel, my mom, my dad, and now I have the privilege to tell you. And you say, well, you know, I'm already saved. Wonderful. Then pray, pray for people that are here tonight that aren't safe, but tell other people too.
When you were to go to a gospel meeting, make mental notes of things so that when on Tuesday.
Somebody at the gas station says to you such and such. You can say, well, I was at a gospel meeting on Sunday and the speaker said this. You ever thought about that?
OK, now we're going to turn to John Chapter 3.
John, Chapter 3.
In verse 14 and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so.
Must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life?
You know, we don't want anyone here to perish. God doesn't want you to either. We want you to have eternal life and that's available tonight from the Lord Jesus. Now we're going to go a little further into John chapter 19 now.
And you know.
I remember very clearly.
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And it was probably 50 years ago, I remember when there would be gospel preachers that would read this chapter and I didn't like to hear it.
There was something in me that would say, I don't want to hear it, just block it out of my mind. And, you know, there was one preacher in particular that I didn't like to hear. That was my grandfather. And I remember when he would speak, there were times where I would say, shut up, shut up, shut up. Why? Because I wasn't saved and I didn't want to hear the gospel again. And tonight, if you're saying that in your heart, you have a problem.
You're on your way to hell, and tonight come to the Lord Jesus.
Accept Him as your Savior. He loves you. He loved you enough to be lifted up.
To stretch out his hands, for the nails to go in his hands, for the nails to go in his feet. Why? Because of his love for you, His love to God. We're going to read a little bit in John chapter 19.
Verse one Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him.
Now, if you don't know what that means, that's like a very severe whipping. And in the olden times the Romans would do this and people would almost die from the scourging, it was so horrible.
They would take the flesh right off people's backs, and that's what Pilate did to the Lord Jesus.
It's horrible. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns. I remember Lee Mayhew, for anybody can who can remember him. I remember he had the gospel when I was a kid and he said, you know what that means? That means they made a ring of forms and then they put it on his head, like he pushed it down into his head.
And I remember as a kid thinking, wow, they did that to the son of God. Yes, they did. People like me did that to God, son. It's a horrible thing. And it says and put it on his head and put on him a purple rope. They made fun of him. They dressed him up in a costume to mock him and said, hail, King of the Jews.
They didn't believe that he was the king of the Jews. They were making fun of him and they smote him with their hands. Now think about this for a minute. The Son of God and people are hitting him and soldiers.
Do you think God has a record of when somebody punched his son in the face? You bet he does. And God has the record of the lies you've told, too. And when you haven't obeyed your dad and your mom.
And if you think you're going to get away with that, you're not.
You need to deal with God tonight about your sins and the Lord Jesus died on the cross.
And his blood will wash away your sins tonight. But you've got to come to him for forgiveness. You have to humble yourself before God and say, yes, I have sinned. The people said they'd send to Moses, but they had to look up at that serpent of brass in order to be safe, in order to get better.
OK.
Verse 4 Pilot therefore went forth again, and Seth unto them behold.
I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault.
In him now, Pilate said he found no fault in the Lord Jesus.
But he had scourged him. Why did he do that? Why did Pilate say I have found no fault in him, but he whipped him now would it be right for me to whip Tom when he didn't do anything wrong?
No, you'd say. You're a horrible dad. And you know what? I'm going to tell you Pilot was horrible to do this.
Now what have you done to God's Son? Have you told him no? Have you insulted him? Have you used his name in vain? What have you done to the Son of God who loved you?
OK, let's go a little further.
Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.
And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man, and tonight.
We hope that you'll behold the man. You won't make fun of him any longer.
That you'll say, hey, that's the man who died for me. I love that man. You know, I remember when I didn't love him, but I do now, right? It's a wonderful thing to love the Lord Jesus. He loved me before I ever loved him.
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When the chief priest therefore an officer, saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him.
What does it say next? So I find no fault in him? What?
Crucify someone that didn't do anything wrong. This is horrible. Parents that are here tonight, would you discipline your children for doing nothing wrong here? There's a Roman governor who says the man did nothing wrong and he whips him then condemns him to be crucified. This is horrible judgment.
This is the epitome of poor judgment, isn't it?
Anyway.
I'm no better than pilot in my natural self.
Now let's skip down a little bit to verse.
16.
Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified, and they took Jesus, and led him away.
And he bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew.
Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other with him.
On either side one and Jesus in the midst and Pilate wrote a title.
And put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read many of the Jews. For the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city, and was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin.
Well, we've talked a little bit about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus tonight, and I hope each one of us who belongs to the Lord Jesus on a regular basis.
Considers these things and how the Lord Jesus suffered for us and how much he went through.
Tomeka Sizzon.
And tonight the gospel is to convey the love of God, the love of God in giving his Son, the love of the Son in enduring from the hands of people like me. What we just read, the mockery, the nails through his hands and his feet, the crown of thorns. You know, in other verses it talks about how they spat in his face.
Spitting in the face of the Son of God, I might ask you, has anyone ever spat in your face?
You know, I've had that experience. It's horrible. It's horrible. But then think of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, people spitting in his face. And now let's ask another question. What do you think God thought about the people spitting in the face of his son? Would you like somebody to spit in your son's face? Would you be happy with that?
And then people say, well, God won't judge anything.
Pardon. And so it's very important for us to be ready to have our sins forgiven. If there's somebody that isn't ready, that doesn't have their sins washed away tonight, make the Lord Jesus your Savior.
Verse 28 We'll end on this after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was that a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop.
And put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, that Sabbath day was in high day. He sought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the 1St.
And of the other which was crucified with him, but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already.
They break not his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water, and he that sought bare record, and his record is true.
And he knoweth that he saith true that ye might believe.
Well, I love this account in John's Gospel.
You know, I think it's a wonderful thing for us as believers.
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When we're quiet, we have some time sometimes close our eyes and just picture the Hill of Calvary. Picture the Lord Jesus, his head bowed in death.
And then picture.
The Roman soldier coming to the first thief, breaking his legs so that he would suffocate and die.
Walking around the cross of the Lord Jesus, breaking the legs of the next thief.
Instant suffocation and death, and then for him to come back to the center cross and look up and see the head of the Lord Jesus bowed in death.
Instead of breaking his legs, pulling out the sword.
And putting it into the side of the Lord Jesus because of his love for me.
Is love for you. That's why the blood flowed out. That's why the water flowed out. Because God wanted your sins to be paid for.
By His Son, tonight you have the privilege of saying thank you and reaching out and taking the gift, the provision that God has given, the way of salvation that God and His wisdom devised so that ruined lost, guilty sinners.
Like me, could have their sins forgiven forever, could go to heaven.
And not hell. Could be happy and not sad, could be forever satisfied in the presence of a holy God.
Tonight, if you're not saved, get saved.
For us Christians that are here, pray.