Gospel—B. Imbeau
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Hymn #7.
God loved the world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall.
Salvation full at highest cost. He offers free to all.
Someone start that please.
Turn with me, please, to a verse in Proverbs.
Proverbs, chapter 25.
And verse 25 Proverbs 2525 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
Well, we know it's the good news is.
I think everyone who is sitting in this room this evening.
Has heard the good news of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ before.
And you know that that good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ has come from the heights of glory and has come into this world.
As a sacrifice for sin.
And that in his love He has sought us out. Not that we have sought him or looked for him, but He has come for us.
And you know, it's from a far country.
And I have a little interest in talking a bit about for our country.
Why is it a far country?
Why is the source of this? From a long ways away I thought you know.
You're talking to me right tonight. This seems pretty close, doesn't it?
Well, the source of the message is from God.
And it's not so much that God has made himself distant to us, but we have made ourselves distant to God.
We have moved away.
From God.
Your sins have separated between you and your God.
And so step by step, sin by sin, you've moved away from God to where now the source of this good news is now a far country.
A foreign country?
How far away is it?
How far away is it?
Only you can answer that.
Let's turn to Luke chapter 15.
Well known parable, Lord Jesus Christ told.
Luke chapter 15 and verse 11.
And he said a certain man had two sons.
And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a foreign country.
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And they're wasted his substance with riotous living.
And you know.
You're not abandoned in this world.
There are no orphans because you have a father.
What do you think about him? You know what? You get up in the morning.
And the sun rises, Well, that that comes from God.
Light there you breathe, the breakfast you're going to eat, your abilities to get around, the energy that you have. It's all from God.
And so there's substances that God has given you.
And they in a sense belong to you now, because God has given them.
Now what have we done?
With all these things that God who wishes to be a father to us, what have we done with all these things, our abilities, our minds, our resources of all sorts?
You know what we've just taken off?
Well, that was nice of you to give me all this stuff. Now I'm going to have fun.
Yeah, now I can have fun.
And so we take off.
Leaving God and the thoughts of God behind us.
Not giving one care that there is a father there that has an interest in us.
And someone who truly loves us.
And in verse 14, when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine.
In that land, and he began to be in want.
For some people this happens earlier, for other people it happens later.
But it's going to happen.
Is that you're just going to run out of steam?
S just incredible.
But it's going to be.
And then you're going to go like, what happened?
You know, I was having fun just a couple of years ago and now like, I'm really depressed.
Verse 17 when he came to himself.
You know this, this fella had a conscience and he had some memories and he knew what the father had said and he knew what the father was like.
Now there's a lot of people that fake themselves out and they think that God is after them and God is wanting to take away from them.
But God is a giver. God.
And deep down, we all know that.
We all know that.
And when we finally come to ourselves, we go, there is a father. And you know what? He's cared for me all the while. And look at the mess I've made.
And he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bred enough into spirit? I perish with hunger.
I just can't get by emotionally and I thought I was out there.
You know, with people that I liked and, and you know, they kind of, they kind of deserted me and they weren't really all that great friends. And maybe this is my second or third marriage and, you know, nothing seems to work.
I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before thee, and I'm no more worthy to be called thy Son. Make me as one of the highest servants. He arose, and he came to his Father, and when he was yet a great way off, his Father saw him.
His father saw him.
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We have a little.
Opportunities sometimes to deal with some young folks and we enjoy reading this passage.
And we enjoy stopping right there.
And then ask, and what do you think Dad did?
What do you think Dad did?
He beat him, of course.
My kids stole what I had, dissed me like that. I'd beat it when it came back.
His father saw him had compassion.
And ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
This guy had been living with the pigs. He was stinky and he had ratty clothes. He was a mess.
And dad runs out there and he hugs them and he kisses them.
This is the heart of the Father, and this is what he was missing all the time he was gone.
What are you missing?
I mean really, what are you missing?
There is someone out there that really does love you and really does care about you.
There's one who has sent his son across that gap.
From that far country.
And he has sent him.
For you.
Because he loves.
And he's died for you.
And he wants to give you a life.
A real life.
A real life.
What would it take you?
Or what would it take for you?
To really breakdown and to say OK, God's right and I'm wrong.
Let's turn to the book of Joshua.
Joshua, Chapter 9.
Joshua 9 and verse three. That is the story of folks called the Gibeonite and.
We probably all know the story. There is the Israelites. They got out of Egypt, you know, and wandered through the wilderness for 40 years.
They made it finally to their country, which we now call Israel.
And there is only one way to.
Get that country and that was to do battle with the folks that lived there.
Needless to say, folks that lived there enjoyed living there, and they weren't just going to move aside for some newcomers.
Well, the Gibeonites caught on.
And here's what happened verse 3. And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard that Joshua heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho into AI.
He conquered them.
When they heard that, they did work wildly, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their ***** and wine bottles old, and rent, and bound up, and old shoes, and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua under the camp at Gilgal. That's where the Israelites were camping out, and said unto him, And through the minivigil we be come from.
Far country.
Now, therefore, make ye a league with us.
So they asked where they're from and in verse nine they answer kind of the same thing with a few little details. They said unto him, from a very far country, thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God, for we have heard. Now remember to begin with because they were worried about what happened at Jericho and another little city called AI that got just they walked over them basically.
And they didn't want to be the next city in line.
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But look what they say.
They say, for we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt. Well, my, what happened in Egypt was 40 years earlier and you know, let's say the lifespan of the folks was like 50 years or so.
Most of these people weren't probably alive when it all happened, but it was so dramatic and what happened to Egypt that the story got told and retold and retold.
And they knew what had happened in Egypt 40 years earlier.
You know, sometimes we barely keep in the news what happened a couple weeks ago. It's kind of like old news, you know, But this was made a big impact on it.
Now.
The Gibeonites.
Like any of the rest of us.
We're proud of who they were and of their culture.
And they had a sense of.
You know their own worth and stability.
And look what they did.
They dreamed up a story.
And they dressed down in these ratty clothes and took moldy bread and stuff. And they come to these people who.
Are the newcomers and they just kowtowed to them.
We'll just kind of say what you want, you know, and we'll kind of lick the dust your feet.
I mean, they were going to give it a try.
Think of what they had to put aside. Think of the attitude that you and I probably would have had, which is like everyone else did in the land of Canaan at that time. They said we're going to fight it to the death. No one's going to be telling us what to do. No one's going to be enforcing something, imposing something on us that we don't want. I mean, we've been here a long time.
But they did it. They swallowed their pride.
And they did this.
Now you keep reading in the scriptures and you find that God bless these people.
Down the road.
Yeah, they were deceitful and they lied and.
The people of Israel weren't necessarily wise in how they dealed with them and they didn't ask God for help. But yes we we know all that. But look at it from the Gibeonites point of view. They were desperate.
And so they did something that they would never dream of doing.
But it's like they didn't care.
They just didn't care. They were going to save their skins if they could, and they were going to give it a try.
Tonight.
If you're lost.
Can you be like one of these gibeonites?
You know.
We've got our pride.
And we've got our peer pressures.
And we have our own self respect.
But you've got to get saved.
And there's only one way to get saved, and that is to drop all of that.
And take a whole different task, a whole different point of view.
And go, you know, I don't care what it takes.
I'm going to get saved.
I'm going to really find Christ as my Savior.
This one who can take away my sins.
I'm going to do it.
Let's play a little.
Game, I guess. Not a game. Let's call it a challenge.
This is a pretty big crowd.
650 are here in the room maybe?
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And you know we're.
Maybe we don't know each other real closely, but we're kind of know each other. We're a fairly close community.
Let's say I were to offer you $5.
Anyone. I'll offer you $5 to stand up.
OK, and stay standing while this little meeting time is going on for 5 minutes by the clock.
I'll give you $5.
Where are you going? Yeah.
5 bucks I can get that by allowance from my folks or.
Bum it off my wife or something, I could get it. So I'm not going to do that. That's being kind of embarrassing.
Well, let's say I offered you $50.
Well, that might sound a little bit a little bit better. You know, it might get a couple tanks if you're lucky of gas and I could use that right now. So maybe for 50 bucks.
I'll stand right, right there, right at my seat and everyone going to look at me and I.
The folks nearby I'll kind of chuckle a little bit, but I'll hang in there for 5 minutes for 50 bucks.
Well, for some people, that probably wouldn't be too.
Palatable. So let's bump it up a bit. How about $500? You go, well, you know, I could use $500. Either help pay the rent or the house payment.
Towards the car payment.
For 5 minutes, you know, for 5 minutes, I yeah, I could probably, I could probably do that.
What about your soul?
How much is it worth to you?
I have a concern.
And I don't think I'm alone in this.
And that is very, very easy to pretend that we are a Christian.
Very easy.
Now I'm going to be a little sexist.
I think it's easier for women to pretend that they're Christians than it is for guys.
Why do I say that?
A couple of reasons, one.
Guys kind of work in steps and we think in steps. Women tend to think in a continuum and only that. But women tend to build relationships a little better than us guys. And you know, with those two features, it's a lot easier for you to fake through things than us guys.
Also.
The guys, especially in a crowd like this.
You know, you got to open your mouth occasionally in conversation, not meeting itself, but conversation. And you know pretty soon things are going to come out.
And people will kind of start sensing you've got a problem.
And they'll Peggy is someone who's lost.
So the guys will kind of drop out.
But the women will keep going.
So it's conference time, you see.
And you're a young lady and you're 18 years old or so.
And there's a guy who has shown a little interest in you, wants to talk to you a bit after the saying or maybe on Monday at the beach party, wants to kind of see what the waves look like just a half mile down the beach.
And you discover they look pretty much the same as they did.
At the other place but.
You know, so you're walking along.
And you know what? You're not going to say? You know what? I'm not saved.
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You know, you seem like a nice guy and I'm kind of attracted to you. Can you tell me how to become a Christian?
You're not going to say that. And you know, if he kind of asked you a little bit about do you go to meeting of wherever you live, you know, and they go, yeah, I go with my folks, you know.
You break bread.
Yeah.
I break breath.
Fast forward 20 years, 37 years old, got four kids, another one on the way.
You're a nice Christian family.
And you're lost.
It's been easy. It really has not been a problem.
To keep saying that you're saved and go to meeting and you sing the hymns.
Tonight.
What would entice you?
To stand up.
If you are lost.
How much is your soul worth?
You probably wouldn't do it for $500.
What about 5000?
What about 5000?
Would you be willing to stand up and say, you know, I've been faking it the last?
Whatever number of years. And you know, I'm really not a Christian.
Michael.
What about $50,000?
Someone pay you $50,000. You're a lost person. You're living in a Christian family. You're one of the.
Parents of the family.
And you are lost.
With $50,000 encourage you.
Yeah, now I couldn't handle that.
What would people think?
They think I.
They didn't have a Christian. I can't suddenly tell my husband I'm lost.
I couldn't do that.
What if you keep bumping the price up?
What if he had $150,000?
And what have you said? Yeah.
Maybe I could do that?
Now you go, Mr. Speaker.
What are you doing jerking around with two important things in our lives, emotion and money.
Are your palms sweaty? Do you feel a tingle in your back?
Don't go messing with me.
But you know what? For maybe $150,000.
Maybe I'd have enough guts.
To say, you know what, I've been a fake all this time.
How much is your soul worth?
Would you do it for $150,000? Well then drop back a little ways. Let's say all I offered you was $130,000. You would be willing to keep your lost soul for $130,000?
You've put a price.
On your life.
What's it worth?
What is eternal life worth to you?
Do we want a little bit of embarrassment? Perhaps?
Or an eternity lost.
Without any hope.
No family, no kids, no nothing.
Forever.
What is your life?
And what is it worth?
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And you know, it's not a game.
It's not even a challenge.
It's a step.
Between life.
And death, Christ has given you an opportunity here this evening, an opportunity now to face the embarrassment.
In this life.
So that you can have eternal joy with the Lord Jesus Christ.
And all of is redeemed forever.
What's the trade off?
What's the trade off? What is it worth to you?
You know, there was a lot of people that in the Bible that had various opportunities and we're going to talk about a few of them.
They had their chances.
And they missed the opportunity.
Someone will just mention someone will turn to some of the scriptures.
But think of a man named Cain.
He did some pretty bad stuff. He killed his brother, first murderer in this world, and yet God talked to him. God talked to him directly and says look, got a deal for you.
There's a sacrifice available. There is a sacrifice available and we don't know the reasons and we don't know the rationale, but Cain turned it down.
He had a little conversation with God. God himself spoke to him. What's it going to take if God himself talked to you and said got a deal for you?
You endure 20 minutes of embarrassment and I'll give you eternal life.
Just admit that you're lost.
And come to Jesus Christ.
Cain turned it down.
There's a man named Balaam, and let's turn to that. That's in numbers.
The Book of Numbers, chapter 24.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers.
Numbers 24 and verse 15 He took up his parable and said, Balaam, the son of BR has said, And the man whose eyes are open hath said, He has said, which heard the words of God.
Listen to this.
He's talking that he's the one that heard the words of God, and he knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty and falling into a trance but having his eyes open. I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh.
What did Balaam know? He knew a tremendous amount. How far away was he from the from really accepting the God of Israel as as his own?
It sounds like it was mighty close.
How close?
You know.
The words of God. You know who the Lord Jesus Christ is. You know that there's a Father in heaven that wants to be your Father personally. You know that.
And yet, we know what happened to Balaam not too long after this He died in a battle.
And he was a lost man.
What about Lot's wife?
Lot's wife.
She had her hand.
In the hand of an Angel.
And she was lost.
What an opportunity.
And she missed it.
One small request. That was all.
From this Angel, don't turn back.
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But she had a heart that wanted something else.
There were emotions, there were ties, all these womanly things that that tighter down there in that city. And even her hand, being in the hand of an Angel did not affect her heart.
What's it going to take?
What is your soul worth?
There's another.
Interesting one, maybe not as dramatic, but in first.
Samuel.
In First Samuel chapter 6.
This is a little bit with the Philistines.
And we probably know most of the story, but let's read the verse that is.
Pertinent here First Samuel 6, verse 6.
Wherefore this They're talking among themselves. Now Notice how much these Philistines knew.
Wherefore then, do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? What do you mean Pharaoh and the Egyptians? This was 400, not 40 years, but 400 years later. And they, they're their, their storytellers still kept it in their oral traditions, and they remembered what happened to Egypt.
You know, we all have good memories. Let's face it. Yeah, we forget things, especially the things that happened recently. And when we're upset, we forget our kids names. But I.
We have pretty good memories.
And their memory went way back.
And after having said all that, and then they, they watched the arc go back up to Israel. It was a miraculous thing. They saw all this stuff. It was really, really bizarre. They would have never thought it was going to. In fact, they figured it wouldn't work that way unless there was really a true God who was going to work it out that way and that they discussed it all ahead of time. And so it happened.
And the two cows that had calves took off towards the land of Israel, carrying this ark with them. Everything happened according just like clockwork.
So what? The Philistines do Nothing.
Do you see them going up to Shiloh or wherever and saying, wow, this is a real God? We're going to change our religion. We're going to we're going to forget all these idol things that look like fish and go up and we're going to, we're going to really worship the true God.
Did they do that? No. Why not? I don't know. Why don't you get saved? I don't know.
What's it going to take? I don't know.
Let's turn to the book of Luke.
And early on in the Lord's life, when he is 12 years old, Luke chapter.
Luke chapter 2.
Luke chapter 2 and verse 46, we kind of know this. The family went up to Jerusalem and Jesus stayed in Jerusalem and his folks headed back home. They had left Him.
Things like that happen, you know, kids get left to.
Rest stops. It's kind of embarrassing.
Verse 46 And it came to pass that after three days they found Jesus. They found him in the temple. And what was Jesus doing there, sitting in the middle or the midst of the teachers, the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions and all that hurt him, were astonished at his understanding and answers.
Here are all these teachers.
Apparently the Lord Jesus came and talked with them for three days.
And you know, you're sitting here in this conference, this conference is going to last for three days unless Lord comes. And, you know, you might find it pretty interesting, some pretty neat stuff about the resurrection and that the way that the Lord values our bodies and, and that, you know, those that are saved or are with the Lord and, and after the rapture time, there's, there's the body's going to be taken up from this world and, and be glorified. And you're going, wow, this is really neat.
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I like this.
But, you know, these teachers, they had their own philosophy, you know, and they weren't going to.
Yeah, they enjoyed, they were intrigued. They were even astonished at what this 12 year old kid had to say and the questions that he asked.
And you know, we've got our own philosophies flying around this culture too, don't we?
There's things like the Magdalene cult that you had mentioned in The Da Vinci Code.
We've got Gnostic philosophy coming out in our mainstream media in the Matrix series. What is it? Matrix Reloaded imploded and exploded or something?
You got all this bombarding us and, and you hear the things of the Lord and you know, they go, that makes sense. That's a lot better than all those other stuff. It's it's, it has a real ring to it. You know, I like that.
And so after three days, what are you going to do?
Well, here's what happened to these teachers. Here they were listening to this 12 year old fellow.
Who? They really didn't know who he was.
Though you wonder if they did.
And long come.
Those who were his parents.
And they say, Jesus, it's time to go home.
So this 12 year old.
Obeys them and he goes with them.
What about the teachers?
Did they follow along, say well, we want to hear more from him?
Where? Where do you Where do you live?
Oh, we live up in.
Galilee area. Ooh, Galilee.
We're pretty sophisticated folks down here in Jerusalem. You know, we don't mess with the riffraff up in that part of the country now. I think we'll just kind of stay where we are.
It didn't make any difference that a 12 year old was having a discussion with them and asked some questions that astonished them.
What would it take? What more do they want?
What more do you want?
How can you possibly, possibly turn down the love of the Lord Jesus Christ? And even if it meant a bit of embarrassment to say, you know, I've been lost and I want to get saved tonight, what is it going to take?
What is it going to take?
Isaiah chapter 5.
In verse 3.
And now?
Oh, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge.
Make a decision. That's really what it means here. Make a decision.
I pray you, I plead with you.
I get down on my knees and beg you.
Make a decision.
Between me.
And my vineyard.
What could have done more?
What could have been done more? The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and gave his life for you. What could be done more? The love of God has been told in a way that is astonishing. The Lord Jesus Christ has come as a sacrifice for sin. The Father has given the best that he ever, possibly, possibly ever could. What could be done more?
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If you turn it down tonight.
There is nothing more.
And 37 years old will.
Turn into 57 or 58.
I'm not going to change now.
The grammar now.
With maybe now 5 grandkids.
How am I going to explain to them that grandma never knew the Lord Jesus?
And then it turns into 78 years old.
And then there is no 98.
What could?
Have been done more.
Let's turn to.
A pleading of the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke chapter.
19.
In verse 41, Luke 1941.
And when Jesus?
Was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it.
Saying, If thou hast known, even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace.
But now.
They are hid.
From thine eyes.
And there was another verse.
In Luke 13.
Verse 34.
O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
Which kill us the prophets stonest them that are sent unto thee.
How often?
Would I have gathered thy children together as a hen to gather her brood under her wings?
And ye would not.
Behold.
Your house.
Is left unto you desolate.
And So what was it worth?
For many, many years.
As a teenager.
As a 20 something ish.
A 30 something ish.
As a mom or a dad?
Grandma. Grandpa.
It's all lost.
Your house is left unto you desolate.
Because.
There is nothing more that God could do for you.
When you rejected him.
And the gift of eternal life and his Son Jesus Christ.
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Let's sing the 1St 2 verses.
Of #20.
Just verse one and two.