Gospel—Rick Shower
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Welcome all of you to the Gospel meeting tonight. I'm going to start with a little science.
Everyone of you came into this room tonight.
And there's something that's the same about every single one of you, and I mean every single one of you, whether it's Joanna.
And right, I hope I got that right, Joanna back there in the arms of her father, or it's the oldest one here in the room.
Which one that is, I'm not going to try. At least I'm not first, maybe second. There's something the same about every one of us.
Physically.
And we know we're all born sinners. That's not what I'm talking.
I'm talking about something in your head.
It's called a stirrup.
I really know what a stirrup is.
Well, if you've been around in the West, you know the stirrup is that kind of flat with a rounded thing on it. That's a hook to a saddle, and it's what you put your foot in and they get up on the saddle.
Called a stirrup.
Well, everyone of you have a stir.
Head.
And it's one of the three bones in your inner ear.
Anvils another one.
And the stirrup, they're all connected together. Now what's unique about that is.
It's the same size and everyone of us.
Doesn't change in your life.
So when Joanna was born.
It's the same size in her head as it is in the oldest one here. No change.
Why do you suppose God would make the bones in your ear to never change?
Does no matter how old you are or how young you are, he wants you to hear.
Gospel The good news that Jesus Christ died for sinners.
And so He made your ear to hear. How many times in Scripture do we get that little expression, He that hath, and here one.
Let him hear.
And so.
That's one thing that's the same about all of you tonight. You all have an ear to hear, to hear the gospel. The second thing is.
You're all.
Going to be different.
When you go out the door.
They're all going to be different when you go out the door.
Because we've heard the gospel again, and you are responsible.
From youngest understanding to old. And you are responsible to God for what you hear concerning the gospel. I'm going to speak a little to the young people for just a second.
Because you know.
It's pretty easy as an effective young person to, as the expression is, pull the wool over your brethren. In other words, you can pass amongst us and give everybody to think that you are safe.
What does Scripture say?
God looketh on the.
So he knows.
Where your heart is.
If you can understand what I'm saying, he's looking on your heart tonight and knows whether or not you are saved.
I know the Lord Jesus personally as your Savior.
Now that being said, we're going to sing #21.
Decide for Christ. Today I'm going to talk about a question, right?
The question all of us have had in our life at some time.
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And in some ways, it's probably the most important question.
Tonight that you're going to have the answer to. Before I talk about that, let's sing #21 brother, raise the tune.
No.
That's the Lord's help.
Our God and our fathers, we look to thee tonight. We just asked for the spirits, liberty, working the hearts of each one sitting in these chairs tonight, we're thankful that thou knowest the heart of each one. Thou knowest if there's one here tonight still apart from the Lord Jesus do not know the Savior. Do not love.
We pray that Thy Spirit would be able to work in that heart. We pray that there might be something said that the Spirit could use.
It bends that heart that they have a need for the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And so we look to thee, for I help as we open thy word. And we ask this in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
At 11:00 at night.
I told my students.
You have my home phone number. You have my cell phone number.
You have no reason not to have your homework done.
Because I said if you don't understand the assignment when you start on it at night.
I said you call me.
And so sometimes that happen.
As I said, it's too late in the morning.
Try to come in and get help with the assignment if you've forgotten how to do it. I said you call me, we'll take care of it. I said the only night not to call me is on Wednesday night, because I said that's prayer meeting and reading. I said I won't answer the phone.
11:00 at night the phone rings.
Voice on the other end was one of my students.
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And they said.
Mr. Schauer, what shall I do?
What's the question?
What shall I do? Had nothing to do with homework. Had to do with a drunken father.
What shall I do?
I think everyone of them, even the younger one, I've been in a situation in which that question is arisen in their life. What should I do?
And usually when it's that kind of a question, what shall I do? You know, shall is the imperative form of the verb.
Got to have what Shelly but not what will I do? What shall I do?
What shall I do? He said.
And so I talked to him.
Yeah, I need.
He didn't know where else to turn. Get an answer. That's the question I'm going to look at tonight. What shall I do?
So if you'll open your Bibles to Luke chapter 12, that's the first one, There's several. What shall I do?
And whether we're young or old, often that What shall I do?
We're admitting that we don't have an answer in ourselves. We're really saying I need help.
And so we take counsel from someplace. I want to read in Luke chapter 12, beginning with the 16th verse.
And he spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do?
Because I have no room to bestow my fruits.
And he said this will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy knees, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him.
Oh.
This night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast?
Provided.
What shall I do? He said.
We had a plan.
You know the world encourages you to look within yourself for your answers.
That's the world.
Scripture says, Look unto me, Lord Jesus.
And I'll give you the answers. Look unto me and be saved.
Now this rich man here had an idea. He's going to pull down his bar like to suggest this thought in connection with these barns. It says there in his in this parable.
That a certain rich man was already rich.
And I would suggest I don't want to go beyond scripture here, but I would suggest maybe he inherited it.
He was already a rich man, he had and they were full, and so he was going to take that what she inherited and tear it down and fill it with other things. Now this is the application I'd like to make. I see a lot of young people tearing down barns.
You're tearing down that which was your inheritance from your parents.
All those things they said that you didn't like, all those things they asked you to do.
When you had the opportunity and you get the opportunity, what are you going to do?
What shall I do?
You want to tear them down?
I'm going to get rid of all those things, those old ways, those ideas that my parents had.
Would have passed along to you.
If you don't think.
That they're needful even though they were completely full.
It couldn't have been any foreign, yet there was that what you were going to get rid of?
With what?
More stuff.
And so he's going to tear down these barns and build bigger.
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Bigger barns.
We had an idea about the way he thought things should go.
Did he inquire of God?
No.
Inquired of himself.
If you know that, you're a Sinner.
Some people tell you, well, you don't have to worry about that.
You know, that's just kind of a, an imaginary thing in your mind. You know, everything will be all right if you do the right things. Long as you do the right things, go all the way out. In the end, you're good, it'll outweigh your bad, and things will be OK for you.
I've heard that said.
That's not true.
We sang in our little song to decide for Christ today.
Helpless, guilty, dead and blind.
The way we are as sinners. And what's the following judgment?
Judgment.
Oh, God is a God of love. Yes, he is.
He's a God of patient.
There is also a God of judgment.
And sometimes we in the gospel, we want to tell all about how God is love there. You know, there's a lot of people in this world that need a sense of love.
God created us in such a way that one of the most important things in our lives is to have our affections fulfilled.
Have our affections fulfilled? The only one that can fulfill our deepest, most desirable affections is the Lord Jesus.
Around world never fit in a heart-shaped heart.
And so when we have that desire for those affections to be fulfilled, we sometimes look elsewhere.
So this rich man is going to pull down the barns.
And what is he going to do? He's going to bestow all my fruit and my goods, and I'm going to say to my soul.
Everything's OK.
That Satan, we had that this morning.
What were the three characteristics of Satan?
He's going to deceive you.
He's going to lie to you.
In the end, it's going to be death.
And that's exactly what is God's comment on that. What did he say to the fool, verse 20? But God said unto him.
1000 italics, you know, just means they put it in there to make it read better, but it says.
Eat, drink, and be merry.
Knife, you put it this way.
Just do it.
That was Nike's slogan. Just do it.
Whatever you want, just do it.
Satisfy your lust.
Whatever form they might take.
That's the world. That's Satan.
Why? Because those things will all drive you away from Christ.
And if you're here tonight as a Sinner, it's going to drive you away from the thought of needing a Savior.
You want to avoid judgment.
I'm going to speak about judgment later.
But it's real.
And we are on the very cuspid edge of the Day of Grace being closed forever.
Or ever.
There'll never be such an opportunity as you and I have here tonight.
Who accept Christ as our Savior and to be brought into the fullness all that God has for us, not just for the year 2019, but.
But for all eternity.
I don't know about you, but I have a little trouble wrapping my head around the word eternity. But it's a long time, A lot longer than I've lived on this earth or ever hope to live on this earth. That's just a bubble in time compared to eternity. But that's what God has for you.
But he won't force it on you.
Knowing John 4 tells us the Father want to worshippers.
Not robots.
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The angels worshipping.
They don't worship Him like you and I do.
The angels aren't brought into the closeness and the joy and the things that we have as humans saved by the grace of God, by the love of God being brought into such a thing. And so the question is, what shall I do?
What shall?
Now that can be said in a little different tomb, and we want to be careful because we could say it. What shall I do?
Keep the eye out of it.
About what you're going to do. It's not a matter of work, it's not a different things. It's all about Christ and what He is going to do for you. You don't have anything to offer.
Accept your sins.
And he'll gladly take those sins, wash them away in his precious blood.
And make you fit for an eternity in heaven.
Or if you don't want it.
Thou fool.
You'll spend your eternity in hell.
Not created for you. Scripture tells us it was created for the devil and his angels.
For you.
But you can choose to go there.
I'll look at another portion.
Mark.
Hospital of Mark.
Another What shall I do?
Mark, Chapter 10.
Now the first one was a parable, in other words.
He didn't really have someone specific in mind when he gave the parable, he was just using a rich man. But now this gets a little closer to home.
In the parable of a rich man, you know that's a real picture of the world.
They want bigger and better things and more power and more money and more of everything.
That's a picture of the world.
The world is going to be called into question about what they've done.
But now we have a specific example of a specific person. This is right down to the individual. And so in verse 17 of Mark chapter 10.
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came running, came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good master.
What shall I do?
That I may inherit eternal life.
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God.
Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill, do not steal, Do not bear false witness, defraud not honor thy father and mother.
And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these things I have observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him.
Loves everyone and you in this room tonight.
It allows you with a love that's greater than a spouse if you're married.
Greater than a parent you're a child of.
Still.
Greater than any love.
It can be thought about in this world. We love that man.
He loved the Sinner.
He hates.
With sin.
Loves the center, but he hates the.
And sin cannot be in his presence.
He loved him.
Looked on him and loved him.
And said unto him, One thing thou.
Here's a man that's in earnest, he says. What shall I do?
Inherit internal life.
He was interested in spiritual things, not in the world.
Wanted to know about spiritual thing he wanted to know.
What can I do to have you turn the wall? It was in real earnestness. Now, the good thing about this young man is, who was he asking?
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The one who was capable of giving him that eternal life that he wanted. And it says that the Lord loved it.
And then it says one thing, thou lackest there was a hindrance.
Satan knows the hindrance, the specific, every single one of us in this room.
He knows what he can use to hinder you. He knows what he can use to hinder me.
And so.
The Lord tells him, well, there's there's one thing that's lacking here. Now there were a lot of things that were good about this man. He had an exercise conscience.
He says the Lord told him about the the different things to do and he says in verse 20, Master, all these things I observed from my youth that there was something lacking.
Lord tried to point it out to him, but he missed the first innuendo that the Lord gave him. Let's back up and pick it up in verse 18. Why call us thou me good?
There is none good but one, and that is God.
In other words, he was saying to him, if you don't believe.
If you if you don't believe that I am God.
And I'm not good.
You say that again.
If I am not God?
I'm not good.
Because there's only, he says. There's only one that's good, and that's God.
The young man just saw him as maybe a morally good person, but not good in the sense of God is perfect, but in the sense it's perfect. And so he says there's one thing that I'll ask everything that this man said that he had done was.
Outward could be observed by those around him and.
As I mentioned earlier.
Pretty easy to fool the people around you by doing all the things right.
That they see us do.
Yet within our own heart, things are not right.
God looketh upon the heart.
And so he says to him.
It gives him a test. He says to him, Go thy way, so whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
It's like we had earlier today. Is he going to be a Lord of your life?
Might be your savior, but is he going to be Lord of your life? You're going to give up everything for him. That's the thing and so he says to this young man, take up the cross and follow me. Verse 22 Says and he was sad at that same and he had went away 3.
Where he had great possession. You know we don't read, but this young man that God loved.
Never responded rightly to the Lord Jesus.
You ever think that every Sinner in him?
Loved by God.
Every Sinner in hell was loved by God.
He loved.
God so loved this world without exclude anybody.
Does that exclude the guy down the street, the one in the prison? The man who just shot up 14 people in a synagogue?
Oh God, Sola.
Beloved.
But did they love him?
You love him. You recognize.
That you are a Sinner and he is a savior. Savior of God who wants the best for you.
Two men.
One very rich.
Both of them, I guess very rich in that sense because the one that says had many possessions.
Had a decision to make, both of them.
If you're sitting in your sins here tonight, you have a decision to make, too.
There's a verse in.
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First Samuel.
Before we move on, First Samuel.
Chapter 2.
And verse three, the last part of the verse, First Samuel chapter 2 and verse 3.
For the Lord is a God of knowledge, by him actions.
Now in both cases these men had a question, What shall I do, And they.
Made an action. They did an action.
God weighed that.
In the first case, man was going to tear down the barns and build bigger ones and so.
God weighs that action, and what does he have to say to him? That cool?
They didn't recognize that all that he had was from God. Young man made an action. He went away.
Three, because he had much possession.
Now, some of you will have to bear with me because I was impressed with two stories not too long ago, and some of you heard these two stories before. They're true stories. We talked about men making the wrong decisions.
I want to talk about two women, two young women.
Both true stories.
The first young lady.
Came from a Christian home.
She had.
Been spoken to by her parents.
And friends, about our soul.
And when she was out of school, out of high school.
She decided that she wanted.
To go a different route than what her parents wanted her to do, what her friends wanted her to do. She wanted to go into the world.
She wanted to become a business person.
And so.
She said to herself, What shall I do?
And she decided on a career.
And she followed that career.
And you know.
She did very well.
She became well known in her field of expertise.
And things seem to be going great naturally speaking for her.
But then she got sick.
She got sick with tuberculosis.
And the medical community tried to.
Make her well.
And all the things that they tried to get rid of the tuberculosis out of her lungs did not work.
Didn't work.
And so she went to see the doctor.
Condition.
And the doctor looked at her and said, young lady.
You have about 3 weeks.
Three weeks.
What would you do tonight?
If you were told tonight or tomorrow, the Lord Terry.
You had three weeks to live.
Would that sober you up a little bit?
The things concerning the gospel are serious.
And your eternal destiny is tied into that.
Or you're going to go hold on. OK, Three weeks, I'm dead. Big deal.
No, you're looking down the barrel of a smoking gun. You're going to get real serious. And if you've been told you only have three weeks to live, you're going to be real serious about where are you going to spend eternity and what is your relationship with God.
Well, this young lady.
Was concerned.
And.
A friend.
Encouraged an evangelist to come and see her.
At this point, the disease, she'd had it for a while, the disease had taken quite a bit out of her and.
And when the evangelist went to see her, she was sitting in a chair. She didn't rise up to greet him.
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She just continued to sit in the chair and she apologized for the fact she didn't have enough strength to get us out of the chair to greet the evangelist. He came in.
And she said to the evangelist, she said to him, She said, Sir.
I've lived my life the way I wanted to.
The doctor told me.
This week.
Three weeks to live.
Would God be willing to take me?
Would you be willing to save me?
I've turned my back on him and lived my life for years the way I wanted to.
This is a true story, I'm not making this up.
And the evangelists asked her well.
You believe the Lord Jesus Christ?
The Savior of sinners, she said. Yes, I believe that. But would he have me? I've turned my back on Him. I've given him nothing.
I've done things everything my way.
So the evangelist turned to John chapter 3. Let's turn there to a verse.
John chapter 3 and verse 18. This is the verse he took to.
And he said to her, you believe that Jesus died for you. And she said yes, but.
But would he have me? Would he? Would he accept me after living my life the way I have?
And waiting now to the last moment when I have less than three weeks to live.
Did he save my soul?
It says what is verse 18 say?
And so he read it to her, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And he said to her, There are two groups of people in this verse.
He said. Do you see the two groups of people?
And she said yes.
There are those that believe on him and there are those who do not believe.
And so the evangelist said to her, well.
You believe on him?
She said, well yes I do.
Then he said.
What does it say about the most that believe on him? What's the rest of it?
And so she looked at her Bible and.
She said.
Either believeth on him is not damn.
He said. What does that mean?
Well, she says.
I'm not going to. I'm not going to go to hell.
Means I'm not going to pass under the judgment, I'm going.
He's going to receive me because I'm not condemned.
He said. What does it say about the other?
And so she read on. He that believeth not is condemned already.
Does he have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God?
He said. Which group are you in?
She said with tears in her eyes.
I'm in the first.
I'm not condemned.
If he won't condemn me, then he'll have.
And the evangelist said to her.
Yes, he will have you.
You are not condemned.
Evangelists left.
In three weeks to the day he visited with her.
She died.
And her friend went to see her on her deathbed.
She was taking her last breath.
And she was near gone and the friend got up right next to her and said, can you hear me?
There seemed to be a little response from her.
And he said.
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Are you ready to go?
She said to him.
Or a friend not condemned.
That's to her, she said.
In their life not.
Another young lady took a similar path.
She was raised in a in a godly home.
And she had often had discussions with her parents and her friends concerning the Salvation.
She didn't think that she was bad enough to be a Sinner.
She didn't need a savior.
And so as time went on and she got out of school, she took up with a.
Group of young people.
Her age approximately I guess, and she lived a pretty.
Rousing Life.
And.
She went on to get a job in the world and let her into other things. Didn't have to do with the way her parents had raised her.
And.
Jindu.
What she should?
Sort of the very morally corrupt life.
And.
She got sick.
She had to come home to her parents. She was not well enough to be able to take care of herself.
She came back to her parents home.
They tried to take care of her, but no matter what the medical field did, didn't bring her any relief, did not seem to alleviate the disease or whatever it was that was wrong with her. It was making her sick.
And so her mother sat with her.
And then when she first came home.
The mother spoke to her concerning her soul.
She had done when she was younger.
And she said.
To her.
She needed a savior.
But she refused. She didn't. She didn't. She didn't think that was necessary.
And as time went on, she got weaker.
And her mother sat with her alongside of her bed.
And I'm sure prayed for continually.
One afternoon.
She was there in bed. Her mother was sitting beside the bed and she was asleep there. So asleep, so it seemed, and the mother was sitting there and all of a sudden her daughter sat up in bed.
And she looked at her mother, and she said mom.
What is Ezekiel 789?
Mother looked at her.
I don't know.
But she said let me get my Bible.
And see what it is. And so her mother, if you have your Bibles, turn to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, Chapter 7.
So her mother turned to Ezekiel Chapter 7, and she looked down at verse 8.
And I'm going to read them, and you follow along with me, and you think about if it was your daughter.
It asked you to read these verses to her.
What would you be thinking?
She looked down and she saw these two verses.
And then she read them out loud.
To her daughter.
She read. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee?
And accomplish mine anger upon thee. And I will judge thee according to thy ways. And will recompense thee for all thine abominations. And mine I shall not spare, neither will I have pity. I will recompense thee according to thy ways.
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And thine abominations.
That are in the midst of thee, and ye shall know that I am the Lord that.
Smite.
This is a true story.
After she read those verses to her daughter, her daughter fell back against the pill.
Shortly and eternity.
She was an eternity, just a little bit.
What's the difference?
Why did the 1St girl?
Leave and was not condemned. Why was the second one?
Damn.
Proverbs tells us and I don't know if I can quote it.
Exactly. But he that is often reproved and hardeneth his heart shall be suddenly reproved something close to that.
She had had multiple opportunities.
Before she took the pathway after she got sick.
Her heart.
Continued to be hard.
Judgment fell.
In the case of the girl that only had three weeks to live, about 3 weeks.
She recognized that she had to deal with God. She recognized that she needed a savior.
Girl that had seven Ezekiel 789 brought to her in her dream.
And refused every.
Admonition to accept Christ.
They're safe.
What shall I do?
I make the decisions in regards to what I think.
What shall I do?
I only had three, three weeks to live.
What shall I do tonight?
You walk out that door after the gospel to nine years, you're responsible once again if you're unsafe.
God speaketh once, ye twice. Man perceiveth if not.
I want to make this application in closing.
You may be saved tonight.
But have you resisted the Lord as much as one of these young ladies did?
Have you decided what am I going to do? Well, I'm going to do this. I'm going to go down this route. I'm going to do these things. This is the way my life is going to go.
Even though you're safe, you're going to leave Christ out of it.
Like we had one thing to know Christ is your Savior, it's another thing to know Christ as your Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ.
That brings in His Lordship. That means he's the one in charge, not you.
And so who orders your life?
Who tells you the answers when you say What shall I do?
It's the Lord.
It will give you those answers.
Because he'll not leave you.
Or forsake you.
He wants the very best for you in your life. And if you're unsafe tonight?
Aching, as you're saying.
That you might be blessed for all eternity.
And if you know him as your Savior, make him your Lord.
So that you will be blessed even more.
For now, all eternity, let's pray.
Our God and our Father, how we thank Thee.
That thou lovest stuff.
I love this world.
Love the sinners that were in it, hated the sin knew what sin had brought into this world, how it creates the blessed Lord Jesus of thou, what the service of Son. Manifestations of sin repeatedly over and over in the power of it, the power of death. Yet at that cross I took every single sin.
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Upon thee, for those that will accept thee as Savior.
And not only redeemed our souls by thy precious blood, but what bring us into the fullness and the joy and the happiness of knowing me of Savior and living a life that would be pleasing to Thee. So we pray for each one in this room. Once again, we are all responsible. Having heard again, the gospel. Having heard.
To that we need to be as our Lord in our life also.
So we pray, but thy Spirit might get blessing for the Lord Jesus from us.
Yeah, let's get tonight, precious.