Gospel—Jim Hyland
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Fall, please to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews, Chapter One.
Hebrews chapter one and verse 10.
And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth.
And the heavens are the works of Thy hands.
They shall perish, but thou remainest, and they shall wax old, as doth the garment. We're going to look at some scriptures in the presentation of the gospel this evening that bring before us the hand of God, or the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I thought it would be well to begin this evening with this portion that confirms to us beyond a shadow of a doubt.
That creation came from the hand of God. If we were to go back to the very beginning of God's Word, we find.
That in the beginning God created and all through the Word of God.
We have testimony after testimony that God is the Creator.
And not only God but the whole Trinity was involved. We know that it was in the power of the Spirit.
The Spirit moved upon the face of the deep because the Spirit of God is the mighty energy in which God has always moved. You know, if there's going to be blessing tonight in this gospel meeting, it must be in the power of the Spirit of God. We cannot save souls tonight.
But our comfort is tonight that we have the living word of God, that we have the Spirit of God to work.
That we have the Lord Jesus as the Savior of sinners to present, and that we have a message from the heart of God.
Who desires the blessing of souls far, far more than any human being on the face.
Of this earth. But I say the Trinity was at work in creation God.
The Spirit we find too, that if we were to back up in this very book of Hebrews.
We would find that the sun was there when the foundations of the earth were laid.
And that he was there at that time, and that all things were made by him. We read that there was nothing made that was not made by him.
We find too. He's the sustainer of the universe, upholding all things by the word of his power.
And I believe it's important to establish this we've already heard in these meetings.
How that there are those who have risen up over the centuries with their theories and their lies and their blasphemies.
And trying to propagate that the creation, the universe, the creation just happened, that it all came to into being by a series of cosmic accidents and explosions and so on. But all those things are the lie of the devil. Because if man can convince himself that everything just happened and that he just happened, and that he has his beginning and his ending on this earth in a few short years.
Then he can set aside in his own mind. He can set aside his responsibility.
To God, but all I say we want to establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a creator.
That God brought things into existence. That the Lord Jesus is the creator of the and sustainer of the universe.
And that you're responsible to him tonight. You know Daniel in his day stood before a king.
Perhaps the greatest king of the day. And he said, the God in whose hand thy breath is.
And whose are all thy ways? Hast thou not glorified? You know, man goes on his own way today, doing his own thing, doing his own will. And he doesn't want to recognize that he's responsible to God. He doesn't want to recognize that every breath comes from the hand of a merciful God. But it tells us in the New Testament he giveth to all life and breath and all things.
Realize that as you almost unconsciously take one breath after another.
Sitting in these seats this evening that God in his mercy is allowing you.
To take that breath, he's sustaining life. It's interesting, it says in the book of James.
00:05:01
That we ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live.
Not an interesting statement. If the Lord will, we shall live. Now the verse goes on to say and do this or that, and we often think of it in that context as believers. We say, well, we desire to do such and such, or we plan to do this or that, or go here or there if the Lord will. But it's interesting that before it speaks of doing this and that before it speaks of activity, it says we ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live.
And God in his grace has allowed you to live.
Another few moments here on earth so that you have another opportunity to have the word of God before you and hear that once again that there is one that you are responsible to tonight. Do you realize tonight that you are responsible to God? That you can't hide one thing from God? You know, we can hide many things, and I suppose particularly when we're younger as boys and girls or even young people.
We hide things. We try to hide things. We're always trying to cover up in some way or another.
We try to hide things from our parents, We try to hide things from our teachers.
We try to hide things from those who are older. Sometimes we try to hide things from those at meeting perhaps.
But you know, we can't hide one thing from the one who made us.
He looks down tonight, and it says all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Yes, we do have to do with God tonight and God. God looks down. The eye of God rests in this room tonight, and he sees right into the heart of every boy, of every girl, of every young person, of every man and woman in this room.
I don't know if you've ever sat in an interrogation room and been interrogated by the police or some federal agency.
But you know, on Thursday I drove on my way here through Benton, KY.
Fenton, Kentucky is a place that's not very dear to my heart. In fact, I said to someone when I got here, I didn't know whether to drive fast and get through or slow so they wouldn't stop me for speeding, but I made it.
But not very long ago, I sat in an interrogation room in Benton, KY, 4 FBI agents, the Benton Sergeant and the Paducah Chief of Police, and I noticed the headlines of the paper this morning. They're going to replace him. But.
There we sat, six men, and their gaze burned through me and demanded nothing but complete honesty.
If you've ever seen a picture of an interrogation room, it's just as it is pictured.
Dark on the perimeter.
A round table, chairs in a circle.
You're closed in with them, a light in the middle, over the middle of the table. It's pretty intimidating.
And you realize as they flip their file that they probably know things about you that you've forgotten.
And that when they asked those questions, I suspect that a good many of those questions they already know the answer to.
And they will ask the same question a number of ways.
And when you walk out of there a couple of hours later, your mind is in such a spin. You hardly know what they've asked you or what you've told them. But you know, I have thought of it many times, because if you sit in a room like that and realize that they're burning gaze and they're cold, stark expressions demand nothing but truth.
Oh, what is it in the sight of God?
You know, I suppose people have gone away.
With many things by covering up. And I suppose there are people who are such good liars that they've got away with it, but oh, you'll never get away with anything in the interrogation room of God. He knows everything about you tonight, and he looks down and he knows whether you're saved or not. He knows whether you're just trying to cover up and hide things.
I have been shaken lately to realize that there are those who pass amongst the Lord's people who make a profession.
00:10:00
Of being Christians. Of being saved, Of having their sins forgiven.
And they're not real.
They do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.
As their savior, you can fool me. You may fool your parents. You know Judas fooled the other disciples for all those years. He walked with the Lord Jesus and the other disciples, you say, How do you know he fooled the disciple other disciples? Because when they came to the upper room at the end of the Lord's ministry, just before he went to the cross.
Those 12 men having walked together in very close company.
With the Lord Jesus and with one another for well over three years.
When the Lord said there was a betrayer amongst them.
You'd think, well, at least some of the disciples would suspect Judas. You'd think there would have been a slip here and there, that some of them would have at least looked down the table and said, well, I think it's Judas. You know, none of them suspected who it was. They all looked at one another, wondering who it was. And it wasn't until John asked the Lord Jesus who it was at the request of Peter that the Lord Jesus finally revealed.
Who the betrayer was?
In that solemn Judas never made a slip, and those men lived in pretty close company for those years. But he was clever in his cover up. But the Lord knew his heart. He didn't fool the Lord Jesus. No, the Lord knew exactly what was in his heart, and the Lord knew exactly what Judas was going to do in the moment He was going to do it as well.
I say you might pass amongst believers and you might fool everybody.
For a long, long time, but the Lord knows what's in your heart.
And so he's the one that made you. He's the one that brought the universe into existence.
He's the one that sustains it and he is the one that you are responsible to.
Tonight. But now I want to go on and read a couple of other scriptures.
First of all in Psalm 22.
Stop.
Psalm 22 and verse 16.
Four dogs have compassed me. The assembly of the wicked hath the enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. And then I want to read in Luke chapter 24.
Luke, chapter 24 and verse 36.
And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me, and see, For a spirit hath not flesh and bone, as ye see me have. And when they had thus when he had thus spoken, he showed unto them.
His hands and his feet. And then I want to read the last four verses of the chapter.
Verse 50. And he led them out as far as Bethany, And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven, and they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And we're continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. Well, we've spoken of how creation came from the hand of the Lord. But oh, here are these hands again.
And these hands now are pierced because of Calvary's cross.
Because tonight we want to present Christ and Christ crucified, because the way of blessing tonight is through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, when this world was created, when it came forth from the hand of the Lord, He just spoke and it was commanded.
And he upholds that he sustains it by the word of his power, but when it came to redemption.
00:15:03
It took something far, far greater than just speaking by the word of his power.
No, it took God himself coming into this world in incarnation.
It took the Son to come at the bidding of the Father.
And to go to Calvary's cross and to die there between heaven and earth.
It took the Lord Jesus giving himself and Ohio. That's the gospel tonight.
And that's why the Apostle Paul said we preach Christ and Christ crucified.
He said in the end of Galatians. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me.
And I unto the world, can we really make too much of the cross of Christ tonight? Oh, I know there are just so many here tonight who thrill, as we speak of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world its foolishness. And it tells us that the preaching of the cross is foolishness. But who is it foolishness to? To them that perish all there are those who scoff at the cross. There are those who mock when the cross of the Lord Jesus is spoken of in his death.
But they are those who are on their way to a lost eternity, and there are many in health and who will be in hell, and who are there tonight. Because they scoffed, Because they mocked, and they are going to perish. They passed out of this world, or they will pass out of this world in their sins and they will perish.
You know, Webster's dictionary tells us that the word perish means to die spiritually, not solemn to die spiritually. Other dictionaries will tell you that it's to pass out of existence and things like that.
But that's not really what Parish is. Or maybe from man's standpoint it is. But from God's standpoint, to perish is to die spiritually. It's to pass out of this world lost, to eventually stand before the Great White Throne, to be judged and to be bound hand and foot and cast into the lake of fire. But all the wonderful story is tonight that the blessed hands of the Creator of the universe.
Were stretched out on a cross of one and as we read prophetically of the Lord Jesus.
In the 22nd chapter, the 22nd Psalm, they pierced my hands and my feet. You know, there are just so many of us here tonight that have emotions run through our souls when we read a statement like that. But oh, I'm thankful for that statement. They pierced my hands and my feet. I am so thankful that the Lord Jesus went to Calvary's cross and gave himself for me.
He said he could have called 12 legions of angels to come.
To his rescue and deliver him that when they came to take him in the garden, there was a little flash of his glory, and they went backwards. But oh he allowed man to come and take him, and to lead him to Pilate's judgment hall. And from pilots judgment Hall they led him away to crucify him. He gave the very breadth and strength of those that lifted the hammer.
To pound those nails into his blessed hands and feet.
He allowed them to spit in his face. He allowed them to strike him again and again and again.
He allowed them to walk by at that crossroads and shake their heads and revile him.
Just sit down and watch him suffer in his agony.
Yes, he did, and I'm thankful he did. But what about you tonight?
Here were these disciples.
And here they were after the Lord Jesus had been crucified. And they were, they were gathered together and they were afraid. You know, there's a lot of fear in the world tonight. A lot of fear. You know, when I travel, I, because I travel so much, I have a pass.
To the lounges.
And when I'm in those lounges, I watch the faces of the upper echelon of the government and corporate world, men and women who come into those lounges to relax after or before their business meeting or seminar. They wait for their flight home or to their next appointment, and on one end of the lounge is usually a large flat screen television with CNN.
00:20:20
And on the other end of the lounge is the same thing with BBC or CBC or some other news station. And hour after hour these distressing newscasts are coming over the airwaves.
And I watch people as they watch those newscasts, the fear written in their faces.
Men's hearts failing them for fear and looking for those things.
That are coming on the earth, and I see men and women turn away.
And shake their heads. I've had men and women turn to me and say, where is it all going to end?
I've heard people say to one another, how can this go on? Because people today realize.
That there is this interplay of economic, political and social forces that are out of control.
And that it's got to give somewhere.
And yet they don't know what to do.
They don't have the answers because they're not looking for them in the right place.
They're looking for them in peace pacts and summits and negotiations and treaties and lining up with the United States and the allied forces and all that kind of thing. It's not working. I've just been over in that corner of the world. It's not working. It isn't working. The hatred that is there instilled in those people, really in God's governmental ways.
Isn't going to be solved.
By legislation. You can't make these people shake hands and love each other after all these generations.
And people are scared.
And the disciples here were scared too. They didn't know what was happening. They thought, as it were, it was the end of the world.
The Lord had been crucified. He'd been laid in a tomb. They thought it was all over.
For those, thank God it wasn't all over. And thank God tonight it's not all over.
Thank God there's a message of peace.
Thank God there's a message of salvation.
Oh, it may be all over for this world. You know, it almost is. This world is winding down.
For the judgment of God, it's not getting better, it's not improving, it's winding down.
And winding down very fast. But oh, there is a message of hope and peace.
And so the Lord Jesus comes, and he stands in the midst of them.
And he confirms that it is he himself in resurrection. And I just want to for a few moments.
Speak of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, because again, the gospel is summed up in these simple words.
He died, he was buried, and he rose again the third day.
According to the Scripture and the Lord Jesus confirms to them His resurrection, how could he give them a message of peace?
How could he calm their troubled hearts here? Oh, because he had died and risen from the dead.
And in his body he retained the marks of atonement. In fact, I believe for all eternity he's going to retain in his body those marks of atonement. For those of us who are finally gathered in the Father's house in a coming day, it's true. We're not going to see him as he was. We're not going to see him as a lowly man here in this world, weary with his journey, sitting on a well or laying his head down in the pillow in the back of a boat for a few moments rest.
We're not going to see him hanging on a cross of shame crowned with a crown of thorns, that which was part of the.
Result of the curse? No. We are going to see him crowned with glory and honor, and when he comes forth he is going to be crowned with many crowns, but nevertheless we are going to see in his body the marks of atonement.
We sometimes sing him in his own wounds in heaven, declare the atoning work is done, and when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he retained in his body the marks in his hands and in his feet and in his side. I want to speak for a few moments too, about the blood of Christ. Oh, it's vital when the Gospels preach that we stress the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:25:03
Because it's that precious blood that atones for sin.
It's through his blood that we have the forgiveness of sins, and John firmly declares the blood of Jesus Christ his Son.
Cleanses us from all sin. Peter further affirms that we have redemption through his blood and that we are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. You know, the money markets are being shaken today. You know, in Canada we did very well for many years because the American dollar was so strong and the exchange was so good. And I'll never forget a few months ago when I went to the bank to change some American money into Canadian funds and they told me I was going to lose money.
In changing those funds, I just stood and stared at the teller, I said. I never thought we'd see that again.
It's leveled out a little bit, but you know, see if we were to open the paper.
On Tuesday, when the markets reopen and compare the.
U.S. dollar in relationship to the euro and the Japanese yen and the Canadian dollar or whatever, why we're going to find it may be very different than it was opening day last week. No, things changed. The price of gold and silver changes. I remember my father-in-law telling me years ago that the way to invest was no longer in gold and silver, but in precious stones.
Because they were more secure. But even that is being shaken today. Yes, the very foundations of what men have trusted in are being shaken, what they put their confidence in. But I'm glad that my redemption isn't based on something that changes in value, isn't based on something that has to be compared every day with against some other currency or some other commodity. No, my redemption is based on something.
That never changes in value. The blood of Christ is as precious to the heart of God tonight.
As when it was shared at Calvary's Cross and when it says the precious Blood of Christ. That's not my estimation of it or anybody else's. Because I'm glad that my redemption doesn't depend on my value or estimation of the blood of Christ. But it does depend on God's estimation. It does depend on God's value. And God says that the blood of Christ is precious and that we're redeemed with that precious blood. What about you tonight?
Are you redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus?
And so he showed to them his hands and his feet, and we find too that he leads them out later on.
And he lifts up his hands, those same hands that were pierced at Calvary's cross. He lifts up those hands and he blesses them before he ascends back to heaven. And, oh, tonight those hands are lifted up in blessing his. He desires to bless you tonight. You know, hands in Scripture usually speak a blessing. You know, it is rare in Scripture. We're going to notice an incident later on.
But it is rare in Scripture that hands speak of judgment, not interesting hands usually.
Not always. I'm not saying it. It always is so. But usually. Most often hands in scripture have to do with the dispensing of blessing. And he lifts up his hands and he blesses them here and all. Tonight. He wants to bless you. He wants your happiness. He doesn't want you to go to a lost eternity. No, He wants to save your soul. He wants to take you to be with himself.
In that happy home. But let's go on a few pages in our Bible to John's Gospel.
John's Gospel, chapter 10.
John's Gospel, chapter 10.
And verse 27.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them.
And they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave me them, is greater than all.
And no man is able to pluck them out, is able to pluck them out of my father's hand.
I and my father are one.
00:30:02
Well, I want to speak for a few moments of the hand of the Lord Jesus and the hand of God.
Not just in connection with blessing, but security. You know, I suppose everybody today is looking for security. They talk about job security. There's no such thing today. You know, years ago in my parents day, I suppose a person thought if they got on with the government or a large corporation that they were there until they no longer desired to be or until they retired. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. And it doesn't matter what level you're you work at.
Even if you're upper management or in the executive core, there's no such thing as job security. There's really no security of any kind in this world.
And men are realizing this again. Things are being shaken. The very foundation of things that people trusted in are being shaken. You know, you realize this when you're caught in a hurricane. If you've never been caught in a hurricane, it's not an experience you ever want to covet. It is a very frightening experience.
Especially when you're on an island. I remember being caught several years ago in Hurricane Lily when it hit the island of Saint Vincent. I remember visiting just after Ivan swept over, uh, Grenada, visiting that island and seeing the awful devastation. You know, there's a hurricane heading for the Bahamas, one heading for the golf course, Gulf Coast. It's a very, very frightening thing. And people take heed. People take warning. You know, people aren't fooling around in New Orleans tonight.
They had their fill of it when Katrina hit. They know what happened and most of them aren't fooling around. Although I did hear today that the people of Lake Charles that wasn't hit hard by Katrina, they're not evacuating. I think that's very solid. Not solemn to think that they're going to toy with chance and stay where they are. And yet we shake our head at that.
But aren't there people who are toying with eternity tonight, A storm of judgment that's coming over this world? And it's not a question of just where the eye of the storm is going to be, or what corner of the world it's going to hit. It is going to be a storm of judgment of such magnitude that no one will escape. And they'll say to the rocks and the mountains fall on us and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb and the face of him that sitteth upon the throne. There will be no hiding.
In that day, there'll be no escape routes. In that day, no, it will be a judgment that will affect all who have rejected God's offer of mercy. When I think of this, I think of a story I read recently concerning a the last absolute monarch of the country of Siam, which is now Thailand today.
I'm not going to try to pronounce his.
Name his Siamese name, but he was commonly known as Rama the 7th.
It was a man who came to power, and he was a shy, retiring man, and things were already in political and economic chaos when he came to power. And he reigned less than 10 years, just slightly less than 10 years. And you know, when he took the throne, he must have had some sense that he wasn't going to reign very long and that the day would come when he would lose his Kingdom, have to abdicate and perhaps flee the country into exile, and with this sense.
He took out two very large unemployment insurance policies.
One with a French underwriter and the other with a British He is reputed in history.
To be the only monarch in history that took out unemployment insurance against his throne.
But you know, his wisdom and his foresight paid off because history tells us that when he was exiled to England, he was able to live in considerable comfort and ease.
For many years, until the day of his death, he was a very wise man. He might not have been the best ruler, he might not have been the wisest king, but he was very wise when it came to the future.
But you know, we're not talking about unemployment insurance in case you lose your job. We're not talking about life insurance to take care of family who may be left after you've you've left this world. No, we're talking about security for eternity. And the believer who has trusted the Lord Jesus, as these verses tell us, are secure in the hand of the Lord Jesus and secure in the hand of God.
00:35:13
And no one, even the devil himself, can pluck them from the hand of the Lord Jesus.
Or the hand of God. I'm going to tell a little story that I've sometimes told, but I'll tell it for the sake of the children.
Someone, one of the boys, was telling me today that yesterday they had caught a toad and that they were examining that toad.
And it reminded me of a little story in connection with my friend Dan Macy. Some years ago, when Dan Macy lived in the Chicago area, he got up one Saturday morning and he didn't have to go to work at BTP, evidently. And he decided that it was time to cut the grass. And as he was going out that morning to cut the grass, his wife Ruth said to him, Dan, before you cut the grass, I want you to check one of the basement window wells. You know how sometimes when.
Part of the basement window is underground. There will be a metal shield that comes out to protect it. And evidently Dan had a fairly deep window well on his property, and his wife was concerned because she had noticed that some frogs had jumped down in that window well, and those frogs were caught there. They had easily jumped into that well, but they couldn't jump out. You know, that's like everyone of us born into this world.
We're in a pit of sin, and we can't get out of that pit of sin ourselves.
As much as we may try, we're caught there and caught fast in that pit of sin.
And so Dan went out, and he looked in that window well, and sure enough, there were half a dozen or so frogs.
Caught there. And they were trying, like everything, to jump out of that window well, but they just couldn't make it. They needed a deliverer. They needed someone to reach down, so damn thought and to rescue them. And so Dan got down and he reached down with his arm, thinking he could just reach into that window well and save those frogs. But he realized that that window well was so deep that those frogs were still just beyond his grass.
Now what was he going to do? He didn't want those frogs to die there, You know, he was more concerned about those frogs dying in his window well than really the welfare of those frogs. But nevertheless, he decided that if he was going to save those frogs, he would have to get down in the window well with them. And so very carefully, as he explained, without crushing those frogs, he put one foot down in that window. Well, put the other foot down.
Stooped right down where those frogs were and 1 by 1.
He put those frogs in his hand and he let them go across the lawn, and all those frogs were so glad.
To be free from certain deaths in that window, well, and you know, I think in a very simple way.
That story illustrates the gospel so beautifully. You know God spoke and brought worlds into existence.
But to save ruined man, to save sinners, the Lord Jesus had to come down.
He couldn't just reach down and save us. He had to come down into this world as a man. He had to go to Calvary Cross. He had to come right where we were, so to speak, it says. He took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
And because he came down right where we were, now he can pick us up. He can pick us up in his hand. That hand that was pierced, that hand that was nailed to the cross, is the very hand that holds me secure for eternity.
That hand that was pierced for my sins is that hand that has reached down now, reached out, and saved me, and drawn me to himself. And that hand is never.
Going to let me go until I'm safe home in heaven, you know, when Dan picked up those frogs in his hand.
He just let them go across the lawn. But oh, when the Lord Jesus picked me up years ago.
Well over 40 years ago, when the Lord Jesus picked me up in his blessed hand, he's never let me go.
00:40:01
And God, as it were, has put his hand over that as well, so that I am secure beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I'll never lose my salvation. I have eternal life as the gift of God.
It's mine by the grace of God, and mine forever. I have No Fear of laying my head on my pillow tonight and wondering.
If I've done something today to lose my salvation.
No, by the grace of God I realize beyond a shadow of a doubt.
That I'm secure in the hand of God, secure in the hand.
Of the Lord Jesus. You know, it tells us in the 49th chapter of Isaiah that we're grave and on the palm of his hand. You know, if it just said we were written, we might wonder. You know, I've written many things on the palm of my hand, things I wanted to remember, things in school Perhaps I shouldn't have written on the palm of my hand because I wanted to remember them for the quiz or the test. But, you know, those things are long washed off and gone.
But you know, my name is not just written on the palm of the hand of the Lord Jesus. It's graven. You grave something on something. You can't erase it. Go down to a graveyard and find those dates and names etched in stone. Can you take soap and water and erase them? No, not for a moment. They're there. It's permanent. And my name is permanently graven on the hand of the Lord Jesus. Is your name graven on the palm of his hand. But now I want to go to Daniel Chapter 5 for a moment.
Daniel, Chapter 5.
And verse five in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and rode over against the Candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the King's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. I said earlier that usually hands in Scripture speak of the dispensing of blessing, But here's an occasion where there was a hand of judgment.
Here was King Belshazzar lifted up in his pride against God.
And what was it that brought down the final judgment on Babylon? It was sacrilege.
You know, not only did Belshazzar have this great feast, Not only was Belshazzar living a licentious life and fulfilling the lusts of his flesh and leaving God out, but he brought the vessels that have been taken from the House of God that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the House of God in Jerusalem, and he desecrated them by drinking wine out of them and offering it to the gods of Babylon.
And God said that's enough. That's what brought the final curtain down.
And you know, I believe that what will bring the final curtain of judgment down on the Western world?
Is sacrilege. You know, I have been appalled in recent time to realize how they're even bringing scriptural expressions into advertising. And not just into advertising, but using scriptural expressions to advertise things that are completely contrary to the mind of God. Things that are used to fulfill the lust of the flesh and of the mind. You know God isn't going to stand for it.
And God is going to judge, and he's going to judge severely. And when this took place here.
In the court of Belshazzar in Babylon, that hand appeared over against the Candlestick, and that hand wrote, and that hand wrote of judgment. And we know by the end of the chapter that that very night was the king slain, and his Kingdom given to another, and all tonight judgment is hanging over this world. Judgment is imminent, and we want to stress this beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I was reading recently a young man named Brian Stanley, and Brian Stanley was a student at Westfield Junior Senior College or State College in Massachusetts.
And on spring break, I think probably a year ago, he and quite a number of his fellow students went down to Acapulco, Mexico, and they stayed at a Best Western resort.
00:45:03
And they had, I suppose, what they would consider a good time.
But you know, the last night they were there.
At 4:00 AM, Brian sat bolt upright.
In his bed, awakened by the sound of shattering glass.
And he jumped out of bed and he went out on the balcony and he realized that the other tower of the hotel.
Was on, engulfed in flames, and that the glass he had heard shattering were windows popping out as the flames and smoke and heat engulfed that tower. And so he began going up and down the corridors of that hotel and banging on doors and yelling fire get out and seeking to warn people. A lot of people didn't take it seriously. They thought it was the spring break joke.
Of a college young person on his last night, many of them did take it seriously.
But he went up and down those corridors till the smoke and heat were so heavy that he had to get out.
He went down to the lobby where people were pouring out of the hotel and he went into the lobby bathroom and he took his T-shirt off and he rolled it up and he put it in the sink and he soaked it.
And he put it over his face and he went back up those stairs because he knew there were other of his fellow students.
That still weren't accounted for, and he began again to knock on doors and to warn people.
And by this time, people realized that there was some seriousness.
To the matter and that it was not a spring break.
And he nearly lost his life.
He choked.
He vomited. He nearly collapsed with the heat.
But you know, there was number loss of life that night.
There were some injuries but there was number loss of life and much of it was attributed.
To the heroic act of Brian Stanley, he was sincere. He saw the danger. You know, we're sincere tonight. If you would only realize the danger if we could shake you over. Hell, tonight, we would. To make you realize that these things are real. This was real here, and we don't have time to read on. But if we were to read on, we find that what was pronounced by the hand of God writing on the wall came true.
Before the night was over, it was fulfilled. And before this night is over.
The door of grace may be closed. The Lord Jesus may have come.
Because the coming of the Lord draws nigh, and the Lord Jesus may come, and the judgments may begin to fall on this world.
And for those who've rejected Christ, the door will be closed. And no more opportunity, no more invitation to come to the Savior. These things are real. We plead with you tonight to come to the Lord Jesus.
We're not going to turn to it for the sake of time, But you know, I was thinking and considering some scriptures as to the hand of God and the hand of the Lord Jesus. How? In Luke's Gospel chapter 8.
The Lord Jesus in the room of a little girl 12 years of age.
Reached out his hand and took her by the hand and raised her up.
Imparted life to her and raised her up to the joy of her parents.
And you know, I was thinking how perhaps at the end of a gospel meeting, there are parents here.
Who are praying for their children and young people. You know we can't save our children and young people.
We can't reach down in their hearts and turn it those parents in Luke chapter 8, they couldn't impart life to their daughter who had died, but there was one who could. And I think it's a great comfort to realize that the Lord Jesus desires to reach out his hand and take them by the hand and raise them up and impart life to them and give them salvation.
Are we willing just to commit our children and young people to him? He desires?
Their blessing, and He desires it very much. He's long-suffering to us, word, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
He's long-suffering to you, Mom. He's long-suffering to you, Father. Grandfather.
Or any other person here who's praying for a loved one. He's long-suffering to us word not willing that our loved ones should perish and so he reaches out and he takes her by the hand. But I just in closing want to turn to one more verse. It's in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 41.
00:50:23
Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 10.
Fear thou not, for I am with thee not dismayed, for I am thy God.
I will strengthen thee. I will help thee, yeah. I will uphold thee with the right hand.
Of my righteousness.
I read this for the encouragement of believers tonight, and I read it too, to encourage any who have not come to know the Lord Jesus.
You know, this is the positive side of Christianity. I am thankful that for many years I have experienced this verse.
The words of the Lord Jesus Fear not, you know, as believers.
We need to be aware of what's going on in the world, but we don't have to be overwhelmed by it.
We don't have to fear eternity because we know in whose hand all these things are.
Fear not. I am with thee. I have one who's with me every step of the way. It tells us in Philippians the Lord is at hand, not as he's right there beside you. Don't you like someone who's right at hand? He's right there. You feel his presence.
I've I've been able to experience that for many years.
I am by God be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. I will help thee.
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness, One more little incident. In closing, in 1932, Thomas Dorsey left his home in Chicago to go to Saint Louis for an evangelical meeting.
He left at home in Chicago, his wife who was expecting.
And after the Gospel meeting that evening.
He was handed a telegram.
That his wife had died in childbirth while he was in the city of Saint Louis.
He returned home and a few days later his son who had been born.
Died as well.
He was so distressed.
Thomas Darcy was a musician and composer.
And he searched for answers in various ways. For days, everything seemed dark.
And then one day he sat down at the piano, and he began to play and to compose the words of a hymn that many of us have sung Precious. Lord, take my hand. Lead me on. Let me stand. I am tired. I am weak. I am worn.
Lead me on through the night. Lead me on to the light. Take my hand.
Precious Lord lead me on, and he found comfort. He found solace in those words. And I suppose many subsequent to the writing of those lines have found their comfort to realize that there's one there who takes our hand, who's with us over every rough spot, who's with us through the dark times and the bright times. Oh, I wouldn't want to trade places with anybody who isn't a believer. I wouldn't want to trade places with anybody who doesn't experience.
The presence and the help and the strength of the Lord Jesus in the field of that hand of power.
There at all times. Oh, tonight, at the end of this Gospel meeting, we want to plead with you.
I'll come to the Savior. Do you know the Lord Jesus? Are you washed in His precious blood?
Are you looking forward to being with him for all eternity? Do you feel tonight that's security?
Being in his hand and in the hand of God the Father, If you don't, as I pray, turn to the Lord Jesus and receive him this moment, our God and Father, how thankful we are for the glorious gospel. And we pray that thou blessed thy word to each heart. Tonight we think of how there may be someone here ready to get off these seats, who's lost and in their sins. So, like our God, we pray that they might not leave this room until they know Jesus as their Savior. We ask thy blessing. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.