Gospel—J. Hyland
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We're meeting this evening. We have good news and a wonderful Savior to speak of. We don't have any gospel hymn sheets at our disposal this evening, and so we're going to sing a hymn from the Little Flock hymn book. It's hymn #60 in the appendix.
Heart the voice of Jesus calling. Come ye Laden, come to me. I have rest and peace to offer. Rest thou labouring one for thee. Take salvation. Take it now and happy. Be hymn #60 in the appendix.
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Let's ask God's help and blessing our God and Father. We are indeed thankful tonight for the Lord Jesus Christ, and we thank Thee for each one in this room who hath found salvation in him. A full and a free pardon, each one who is looking forward to that moment when we will be safe home in the Father's house with and like our precious Savior. And yet this evening, as this meeting commences, we are solemnized to think that perhaps there are individuals in this room tonight.
Still lost and in their sins still have not reached out and taken that full and free salvation that thou and thy grace and love are offering through the Lord Jesus, We pray that if there's someone here tonight that they might indeed listen, that thou would open their ears, and that thou wilt draw them to the Savior. We know that thy desire is that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And so we look to Thee for blessing and help as we read thy precious word. We thank thee for thy living word. We thank Thee for its power.
And we pray that tonight it might sink deep into the conscience and heart of any who are lost.
We pray, too, that thine own might be refreshed and encouraged as we hear again the sweet story of Thy love and grace. We thank Thee that the gospel is going forth around this globe this evening. We thank thee that Thou art still working by thy Spirit, compelling sinners to come in that thy house may be filled. We pray for blessing wherever the word is being sounded forth. But particularly as this hour is before us, here we pray for blessing and a message in the power of the Spirit from my heart of love.
We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.
I'd like to begin the Gospel Meeting this evening by connecting several verses of the Word of God. Because, you know, tonight it's not what I say that is going to have power particularly, but it is what God has to say from His precious word. This book we hold in our hands tonight is indeed the word of God. It's God's message to us. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And as we open this book, I want us to listen to night as the very voice of a holy God and a loving God.
Speaking to speaking to us. And I am thankful tonight that blessing in this room to souls, to lost souls, does not depend on my ability to preach the Word of God, but it does depend on the Word in all its living power. And so do open your ears tonight to listen to God's Word. You know, sometimes from this vantage point you can see those who you know are not listening to God's Word.
You know, it is a very sad thing. And if it grieves the heart of a gospel preacher, how much more must it grieve the heart of God in heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ, to look around a room like this and to find that there are those who are sitting there in evident indifference to the word of God?
Who are speaking to their neighbor? Who are perhaps passing notes. And you know what I'm speaking about.
But all tonight, put those notes away. Put those thoughts away. I want, as we read the word of God, for you to hear it as I say the very word of God speaking to you and speaking to you as an individual. With this in mind, let's go first of all to the 42nd chapter of the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah Chapter 42.
We're going to read a question here.
Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 23.
Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come? Then let's go to the 55th chapter.
Isaiah Chapter 55.
And verse 3.
Incline your ear, and come unto me hear.
And your soul shall live. Now let's go to the New Testament, to Matthew's Gospel.
Chapter 11.
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Matthew's Gospel Chapter 11 and verse 15. He that hath ears to hear.
Let him hear turn over to the 13th chapter.
Verse nine who hath ears to hear, Let him hear.
Notice verse 43 of this same chapter.
Just the last part of the verse. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
These scriptures were driven home to my soul a few moments before this Gospel meeting. Because down the hallway here there was a prayer meeting, a prayer meeting in connection with this Gospel meeting. And as one and another of the brothers poured out their heart for lost souls, and I wish you could have heard, listened in on those prayers from the heart.
But as one another and another of those brothers poured out their hearts heart on behalf of this gospel meeting, it was impressed upon my soul how many mentioned the need for listening.
For listening.
Let's impress this upon our souls tonight. You know there are many in the city of Mayfield.
And many of the cities and towns in the United States and North America that if we were to go out on the street corner tonight and try to stop them as they passed by, they would not want to listen to the gospel. That we would perhaps find one after another giving an excuse as to why they don't have time or why they are not interested in the glorious gospel, Why they're not interested in hearing about our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who came into this world and went to Calvary's cross and laid down his life so that we can say with the Apostle Paul the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, Isn't that a thrill? Can you say that tonight from the bottom of your heart? But there would be one and another, I'm sure, who would not have time for one reason or another to stop and listen to a word about the Lord Jesus. And I don't know why you have come to this room this evening. If we were to go up and down these rows, I'm sure there would be a variety of reasons.
As to why you came to this room this evening.
But I know one thing apart from all the secondary reasons that you might give. Perhaps a friend invited you. Perhaps you received an invitation at the door. Perhaps you're here because your parents are here, or some other family member. But whatever secondary reason you might give this evening, I know one thing for sure. That God, in his wonderful love and grace, has allowed you to walk through the doors of this school tonight and to sit here taking one breath after another so that you can hear the glorious gospel.
So that you can have one more opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus as your savior.
And here where we read in Isaiah, he says, Who among us will give ear to this?
Who will hearken and hear for the time to come? Are you going to hearken and hear tonight? Because the things that we are Speaking of and will speak of tonight have to do not just with this life, but they have to do with eternity.
A young man came to his professor at college, a flippant young man who knew that his professor knew and loved the Lord Jesus Christ was a Christian. And he said to his professor, he said When is the best time to be saved? Interesting question, isn't it? When is the best time to be saved?
This professor never looked up from the papers that he was marking in front of him.
He said the best time to be saved is a few minutes before you die.
Well, the man was rather pleased with that answer, the young man, because he thought I'd got my whole life ahead of Maine. I've got goals and aspirations, and when I get through college, I have some plans that are going to lead to better and better things in my life. And so, satisfied with the answer that the professor had given him, he turned to leave. And as he was about to go out the door of that classroom, the professor said, when are you going to die?
Oh, that was like an arrow to his cart. It was like an arrow to his conscience. He hadn't thought of it like that. Because tonight, as we sit here and take one breath after another, as we sit here with the strength to hold God's word in our hands, it is important to realize that he giveth to all life and breath and all things. He allowed you to take one step after another and arrive here at your seat in this auditorium. He is allowing you to sit there and to.
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At least I trust. Listen to what he is saying to you from his word.
I think of Daniel in this connection. You know, Daniel stood before King Belshazzar, I suppose, the greatest king of the day, Belshazzar was a man who had lived for himself with no thought of eternity. And Daniel solemnly warned that man. He said, the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways hast thou not glorified? And so tonight who will hearken? Who will give ear to this, and will hearken for the time to come, because there is a time to come.
Yes, there is a time to come, and even the atheist, I believe, who may.
In his audacity, try to tell you that there is no afterlife.
That there is nothing. That when you die and draw that last breath, you just die as an animal. Deep down, deep down, he knows that there is something after this life.
Voltaire died, I believe it was in 1778, and it's interesting that before his death he made a prediction.
He said that within 50 years of his death, 100 years of his death, Christianity would just be part of history and that the Bible.
Would be eradicated from the face of the Earth.
God had something else in mind because just 50 years.
After the death of Voltaire, the Geneva Bible Society purchased his home.
As their first headquarters. And they also purchased the printing Press of that infidel who that press that had been used to churn out propaganda against the word of God and Christianity.
And on that very printing press that had been used for that purpose were printed some of the first Bibles that the Geneva Bible Society printed. But my point in mentioning Voltaire is just this. The time came for Voltaire to leave this world. Death was laying heavy upon him, and he knew it.
And the nurse that attended Voltaire's bedside said afterwards that not for all the wealth in Europe would she ever attend the death bed of an infidel, The crying and the wailing and the agony that rent the air of that room as death pressed upon. That infidel, she said, was something she would never forget for her whole life.
Let me tell you another little story that I have sometimes told, but I'll never forget it. I remember in the hospital in Smiths Falls ON where I come from, a dear old Saint of God. She was an aunt of my father's.
She had known the Lord Jesus for many, many years, I suppose for over 70 years.
She was in her late 80s and she too was lying on her deathbed, and she knew that the time was short. Her strength was quickly ebbing away.
But it was, shall I even say, a joy to stand there and to watch one gently released from this life into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
She knew she was going home. She was looking to be there with her precious savior that she had known and loved for so many, many years. I watched her as she took those last few gentle breaths and a smile crossed her face and she was home. And I knew she was home. And the joy of the presence of the Lord Jesus.
But as I stood there, I was solemnized by something that had happened just a few days before. In that same hospital corridor, just down a few doors, another man had come to the end of his life down here. He was a man that was well known and respected in the town of Smiths Falls, where I grew up. He was a man that was full of charity. He did a lot for the community. He was a wealthy man. Fact he was owner of the local newspaper.
But death came to him as well, because it is appointed unto men once to die.
But he realized that he was not ready to leave this world.
And oh, I will never forget what the utterances from his lips as he took those last breaths.
Cursing God, screaming out for mercy.
What a contrast. What would it be if it was you on that deathbed? If it was you who knew that you were near eternity? Would it be to gently take the last few breaths and step into the presence of the Lord Jesus? Or would it be to seek to cling to life to the last moment?
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And to enter the confines of the Lake of fire.
These are solemn, solemn things that we're Speaking of tonight. God raises a question. Who will hear and give ear? Who will hearken for the time to come? I know many of you tonight are in business and you go to work and you have responsible jobs and you go to business seminars and board meetings and things like that, perhaps on a weekly basis. And when you go to those business seminars and those board meetings, it is important that you listen.
And as the man presents his presentation, if you don't listen.
There's going to be some difficulty when you go back to your office. There's not going to be an understanding of some new product that is being marketed or some new marketing scheme that the company is taking up or some new merger that's taking place. And how often I have to confess for myself I've not listened when important things are mentioned. Sometimes on an occasion like this, by 1:50 now, when the announcements are made after the meeting, and then I wonder where the cafeteria is and where the prayer for the gospel is and where this room is and that.
But I can find out. I can ask someone who did listen but oh, tonight, if you don't listen and hearken for the time to come, there will be a time when you will lift up your soul in hell in a lost eternity, with the realization that you have lost your soul.
Lost your soul?
One of the worst things about hell will be that there will be no hope.
You know, if you're sick or you're going through some trying circumstance, some difficulty in your life, you can grin and bear it, and you can get along today, because there's always hope that tomorrow things will get better. But all to think that there will be no hope. Eternity and hell will be like a clock with no hands.
The hands of that clock are moving around, and it will in time be 8:00, or if we're left here, but in eternity, after an hour, after a day, a year, a million years, a billion years, it'll just be as if time hasn't passed. And to lose your soul for eternity when God loves you. We're going to, in a few moments, turn to a story in the New Testament that I believe illustrates the gospel in a very, very beautiful way. Are you going to listen?
Because the story we're going to turn to is more than just an interesting story and a historical fact. It is true. It's an interesting story. It's a story that when I was a boy, I loved to hear and think about. It's true. It is a historical fact. But it's more than that. It's recorded. In fact, it's told by the Lord Jesus when he was here in this world, and it was told to a man to warn that man and also to present to him God's provision for him.
Let me read this question once again. Questions are so good in the Gospel Meeting because a question makes it very, very personal. And that's, as I say, the way I want you to see the gospel tonight directed at you if you're here tonight, lost and in your sins.
Who among us will give ear to this, and will hearken and hear for the time to come? And then we read the verses in Isaiah and on into the gospel, exhorting us that if we have ears to hear, we need to open those ears, and we need.
To hear a preacher after a gospel meeting like this was shaking hands with folks at the door and there was a young man going out.
And the preacher wasn't sure if this young man was saved or not. And so he put his hand on his shoulder and he said, young man, tell me something, what is the best thing in this life?
The young man turned and he looked into the earnest face of the preacher, and he said, Sir, the best thing in this life is to be ready for the next.
Oh, that's the desire of so many in this room tonight. That's why a gospel meeting was announced. That's why there was a prayer meeting before this meeting, because there are just so many in this room who are concerned about your soul. Do you realize, dear soul, dear friend, tonight, if you're lost, that there's someone praying for your precious soul in this room tonight?
Two young people were heard just before a Gospel meeting like this to say to one another.
Well, it's just another Gospel Meeting. It'll probably end around 8:00. It probably will end around 8:00. But no Gospel meeting is just another gospel meeting. It is a thrill to our souls to hold forth the Word of life and to present the glorious Savior and the precious Blood of Christ that cleanses from all sin. And it is God's grace to you in allowing you to hear a loving entreaty and a warning from His heart. Once again, no Gospel meeting is just another.
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Gospel meeting.
I was reading recently about two men who died in 1899. Two men who died the same year, but oh how different it was. One was Robert Ingersoll.
Again, Robert Ingersoll, like Voltaire, was an infidel who spent much of his energy and resources.
Printing literature and propagating the fact that there was number such thing as eternity. Discrediting the Bible, speaking blasphemous things concerning the person and work of Christ. And he died in 1899 and again, what a death it was. What a sad time and those who were there and the report in the newspaper, I understand was a very sad thing, they said His wife and children clung to his dead body. It was all the hope they had.
They said his cremation was soul stirring. That was the report in the newspaper concerning the death.
Of Robert Ingersoll. But another man died that year. His name was Dwight L Moody, and Dwight L Moody had spent much of his life and energy preaching the good tidings of the gospel. Had spent much time in the city of Chicago proclaiming the good news and in other parts of this world. And those who were in his room as he lay on his deathbed said it was a deathbed of absolute triumph. As his last breaths were coming and his life was slipping away. His daughter Emma knelt by his bedside and prayed for his recovery. He put his hand on her head. He said, Daughter, don't pray for my recovery, he said. I'm almost there, he said. Earth is fading and glory is before me. And he went in triumph from a life lived for Christ and telling others the good news of the gospel.
To be with the Lord Jesus. Why do I tell these stories? Why do I bring up these instances? Because I want to impress upon you tonight. I hope that God will press upon you tonight the importance of settling eternal issues. Are you saved tonight? Are you saved tonight? I don't mean do you come to gospel meetings with your parents? I don't mean do you go to some place of worship on a regular basis?
I mean, are you saved? Do you know if you were to leave this world?
Because let me solemnly warn you that not everybody that leaves this world lays on a deathbed and knows.
That death is coming. There are so many whose lives are snuffed out in a moment. Not just old people either, but young people, their lives gone without notice.
And if you were to walk out of this room at 8:00 and you were to meet with some tragedy between here and your place of abode tonight, I want to ask you, and you need to answer this in the presence of God, Are you saved? Or you may shake someones hand at the door and say, yes, I'm saved, But God knows what's in your heart tonight. You can fool me, you can fool your mother or father, you can fool the friend that invited you to this gospel meeting. But I want to tell you the eyes of the Lord are in every place.
And he looks into the heart tonight. He doesn't look as outward appearance, for the Lord looketh on the heart. And you may fool plenty of people, but you cannot fool God.
Let me ask you again, are you saved? Do you know that your sins are forgiven?
Are you trusting in the work of the Lord Jesus on Calvary? Can you say who bear our sins in his own body on the tree?
Can you say the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me? If you cannot say that with true confidence before God, oh, I want to tell you tonight there's love and pardon available. This message is for you tonight. The door of God's salvation is still open through the Lord Jesus. There was a young man we read about in the Bible. His name was Timothy, and Timothy had the wonderful privilege like so many boys and girls and young people here tonight.
The wonderful privilege of hearing the word of God. From the very early days of his childhood he had a God fearing grandmother. He had a God fearing mother. The Bible tells us that.
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And Paul reminded him that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Timothy had heard the word of God from the days of his youth, but Paul reminded him that it was through faith which is in Christ Jesus. It's true, the word of God makes us wise unto salvation. How would we know the way of salvation apart from God's precious word? But he has spelled it out so clearly. We can quote tonight John 316 For God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten Son, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. We can quote the blood of Jesus Christ. His Son cleanseth us from all sin, and we can go to the Gospels, and we can read the story of the life of the Lord Jesus and the story of his death on Calvary's cross. It tells us that the way of righteousness is so plain that a wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein. We sometimes sing a little hymn in Sunday School.
A little child of seven, or even 3 or 4 May enter into heaven through Christ the open door.
For when the heart believeth on Christ the Son of God, tis then the soul receiveth.
Salvation through His blood. You know the way of salvation tonight, don't you? You've heard it many times. You've heard the Holy Scriptures like Timothy, but it's through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Are you trusting in a person tonight? Are you resting your soul on the work of Calvary?
John Patton, who was a missionary to the New Hebride Islands, Pioneer missionary, who went with a burning desire to take the good news of the Gospel to those who had never heard it before. And one of his first tasks was to translate part of the word of God into the language of the South Sea natives, so that they would have at least part of the word of God in their own tongue. And as he was going through Matthew, Mark and Luke and John, translating the scriptures.
He found it hard to come up with a word for the word believe or trust, something that would be to the natives way of looking at things. And finally he came to the 16th chapter of Acts, where the Philippian jailer raised that question and raised it in earnest. What must I do to be saved? And Paul and Silas together responded, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And he translated it like this. Lean your full weight on him.
What are you leaning on tonight for Salvation. All these people leaning on many things in this world, but they're finding that the things they once thought were secure in this world are being shaken. It just seems like the foundation of everything is being shaken today.
The foundation of the economic structure that man has put confidence in the social structure, whatever it might be. Every aspect of life seems to be in an upheaval today, and men are finding that things they once put confidence in are like shifting sand and fleeing. Oh, what are you basing your soul salvation on tonight? Are you leaning your full weight on him? Are you resting on the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I said I'd like to go to an incident, a story in the Gospels. It's in Luke.
Gospel, chapter 10.
And do open your ears to listen to God's Word as we read this story together.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 10.
We'll begin reading at verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right this do, and thou shalt live.
But he willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
And Jesus, answering, said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise A Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him.
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And went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
And on the Morrow when he departed, he took out 2 Pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him. And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee, which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves? And he said, he that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise Well, we certainly don't have time to comment on all that is brought before us in these verses.
But we find here a man who came to the Lord Jesus and he had a question.
It's good to ask questions, but you know it's good when questions are raised that are sincere, earnest questions from the heart.
We just mentioned that in Acts 16 there was a question raised, What must I do to be saved?
And it was, I believe, from the context of that story, a very sincere and earnest question.
Because there was an immediate answer given in the Spirit, in the power of the Spirit. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And if we were to read down in those verses in Acts chapter 16, we would find that that man who asked that question, it says he believed in God rejoicing with all his house. What a transformation there was in that man because he came in sincerity, asked a question, and received an answer, I believe, from God himself.
Through the through Paul and Silas. But here was a man, and the Lord Jesus as he looked at this man. No doubt he loved this man very, very much.
Or do you realize tonight how much God loves you? Do you realize how much the Lord Jesus loves you tonight?
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we may live through Him.
Can there be any greater, has there been any greater display of what is in God's heart than the display that was shown to this world when God gave his Son the Lord Jesus Christ? It tells us in first John the Father sent the Son. Oh, think of that relationship that existed for all from a past eternity, the relationship of the Father and the Son. And when it says the Father sent the Son.
Isn't that more than if it just said God sent Jesus? It's true God did send Jesus, but oh think of the heart of the Father as he sent the Son.
I enjoyed history when I was going to school, and one of the segments of history that I particularly enjoyed was learning about David Livingstone. But you know, when we studied about David Livingstone in school, it was stress. The side of him being an explorer for the British government, a man who went to map out much of that continent before it had been explored or mapped out. And he certainly did a great deal of invaluable work for the British government.
But later on, in reading of David Livingstone on my own, I realized that there was a far, far more important.
Aspect to his work and a far deeper motive in David going to Africa than just as an explorer for the British government. Oh, David's heart yearned for those who had never heard the glorious gospel, and we know from reading his life that there was much blessing and much fruit, which I'm sure only eternity will reveal.
But David Livingstone was staying in a village one time, and there had been great blessing in that village. Many had believed the light of the glorious gospel. They had, like the Thessalonian believers, turned from God to idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. But David was concerned about some people who lived farther down the river.
But he had been warned by the natives in the village where he was working not to venture any farther down that river. They said you'll never come out alive.
But so yearn David's heart for the blessing of those people that one day.
He and his wife and their baby.
Got into a boat and began that journey down the river.
When they landed near arrived near the area where they hoped to beach their boat, they were startled by seeing figures with all kinds of Spears and war weapons running through the trees.
The natives came down to the shore to see who these people were, and it became very quickly evident that had David pulled his boat ashore, they would have quickly done him in.
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And he tried in one way or another to convey to the natives that he had not come to harm them, but that he had come in peace and for their blessing. But he just couldn't seem to make them understand.
And finally, after considering the matter, he looked at his wife, holding their child in her arms.
And he said to his wife, give me the baby.
Those of us who are parents here tonight can just imagine the emotions that must have run between a mother and a father.
As they see those on the shore ready to harm them, to take their lives.
And David says to his wife, give me the baby.
She hesitated for a few moments and then, rather reluctantly, she handed David their child.
And David?
With the child in his outstretched arms, he stepped out of that boat into the shallow water, and he held out that child to those natives.
And they say that the effect.
Was amazing.
Immediately those natives realized that David had not come to harm them, but had come for their good. And immediately they put down their weapons of war. And they received David, and they listened to the glorious gospel that he presented to them from this precious book the same gospel that we are trying tonight, though, albeit feebly, to present to you. And those natives listened, And many of them, we are told, came to know the Lord Jesus as their savior. But what was it?
That made them realize that David had come in love. Oh, it was the child.
Held in his outstretched arms, that child was the symbol of his love, and that he had come in peace. And God has clearly shown His love to you and to me in the giving of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I say again, And this was manifested. If we were to go to a dictionary, we would find that the word manifested means to clearly show.
To my own soul that's very precious, because God has clearly shown His love. Could He show it any clearer than in the giving of his Son? Oh no. And not just his Son coming into this world and dispensing blessing on every hand and speaking the very words that God the Father gave him to speak, but in going to the cross and giving himself there.
God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Does love like that tonight? Touch your heart, this story that we have read.
Brings before us two men, one the Samaritan and I believe the Lord Jesus told this story.
To illustrate God's provision through the Lord Jesus and man's great need.
The Samaritan figures to us, and I think we can see it very quickly. It figures to us. The Lord Jesus, who came in lowliness and grace, came where we were. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This man who left Jerusalem and began his descent to Jericho, he figures to us what we are by nature. And as he lay in that ditch, beaten, wounded and half dead, oh, I say it's a graphic picture of man's helpless condition.
Because tonight we need to realize that not only are we sinners, that's true. We are sinners. Every one of us are born into this world as sinners.
And all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But I believe we need to realize more than that. We need to realize that we are helpless, guilty sinners, unable as this man was, to raise himself out of the ditch, and we are unable to raise ourselves out of the pit of sin. But David could say He brought me up also out of an horrible pit. I set my feet upon a rock and established my going. Was that anything that David had done, No, he had done it, the Lord had done it, and all the Lord has provided salvation.
Tonight. And we find here this man. He leaves Jericho. He leaves Jerusalem. I'm sorry. Why did he leave Jerusalem? We're not told why he left Jerusalem. And I'm not about to speculate, but something motivated him to look from Jerusalem. The place of blessing down the road to Jericho. You know, there are just so many here this evening who have been brought up in a place of blessing.
Are you hankering for Jericho? Do you want to travel down that road to Jericho? Because Jericho is a city that in scripture, has perhaps a double connotation.
We find that it was the city of the cursed. It's a picture to us of this world under judgment and you'll remember in Rehabs day when the children of Israel went in to possess the land of of Canaan.
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They came to Jericho and they marched in obedience around that wall, and there was a great victory given by Jehovah, by the Lord. The walls came tumbling down and they went up and took that city, and only Rahab in her house. Those that were inside that house, protected by the scarlet line in the window, were saved. And there was a curse pronounced on anyone who would rebuild that city. And that did come to pass. We won't take time to go into that this evening.
But you know, there was something else about Jericho. It was the city of palm trees.
I don't know, as I say, why this man left Jerusalem, but I have wondered as he looked down the road toward Jericho, if he didn't consider it in the light of the city of palm trees. We think of palm trees, especially those of us who come from the north. They denote a place that's very pleasant. The weather is perhaps more conducive than what we experience in the winter, the place of rest, the place of ease. Perhaps all these things are brought before us as we think of palm trees.
Waving in the southern breeze. And perhaps this man as he looked down the road to Jericho, he thought it was a place where?
He could take his ease, he could enjoy life. Is that what your desire is tonight?
Is that what's keeping you from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ all? Satan is so clever tonight. He puts one thing and another before us.
But oh, if you're like this man and you're looking down to Jericho, I beseech you tonight.
To consider carefully what took place here. He never did make it to Jericho. He fell among thieves. You know, that's what Satan is. He's a thief. He's a thief and a robber. You know, this world only wants us for what it can get out of us.
I've been struck in speaking to those who are in Business Today, those who are working for large corporations.
It just seems that the corporate world today wants people who will live, sleep and eat for that company. They don't care about your family. They don't care about your personal life. They just want you for what they can get out of you. That's what Satan wants you for, for what he can get out of you. It's like the prodigal son, as long as he had lots to offer. He had many friends, I suppose, but when he had nothing left to offer of the resources that he had taken from the Father's house.
He was alone. No one gave unto him. It says. There he was alone because he had nothing more to offer.
In our family reading, I was struck in reading concerning the children of Israel when they were under the ******* of Pharaoh and Egypt. A picture to us in the Old Testament of Satan in this world. And there came a point when Pharaoh wouldn't even give them straw to make brick, and yet they had to keep up the tally of bricks.
All Satan is not a giver, he's a taker. But oh, tonight we're speaking about the giver, the greatest giver of good, the Lord Jesus Christ, God himself. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. Do you realize that the heart of God is such that he wants to give to you? Tonight he's given his son. Paul could burst out at the end of Second Corinthians Chapter 9 and say thanks be unto God.
For his unspeakable gift. But there's another gift being offered tonight, being offered in this very room to you. And that's the gift of salvation. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And you. Remember at the beginning of the meeting we sung over and over and over again. Take salvation. Take salvation. Take salvation. Because even the children here understand what the response to a gift ought to be.
When someone gives you a gift, what do you do? You don't try to pay for it, do you? No. You reach out and you take it. You receive it and you say thank you. Have you ever thanked God for His gift of the Lord Jesus? Have you ever thanked the Lord Jesus for the gift of eternal life?
We had a brother two or three years ago come and speak to some children.
That were gathered together to hear the gospel story.
And he was trying to impress upon these children the difference between a gift and a reward, and he illustrated it this way. I thought was very good, he said. Suppose I bring a bicycle up to the front here, and Ioffer this bicycle to one of the boys on the front row.
00:50:00
A very expensive bicycle. And this boy knows that it's a very expensive bicycle. And so Ioffer it to him and he comes up to receive it. But on his way from his chair to the front, he thinks, now this is a pretty nice gift just to be offered free out of the blue. Maybe I should offer him something for it. And so as the boy approaches, he says, Sir, I'd like to give you 1 Penny for this bicycle.
He said the bicycle. If I took the penny, the bicycle is no longer a gift. It might be a bargain, but it is not a gift. And God, I speak reverently and carefully. He is not requiring 1 Penny at your hand and mine tonight. He does not require anything. This man that was lying in the ditch, could he do anything? Could he do anything to better his position or pull him out out of the self, out of the ditch? Oh no. In fact there were two men who couldn't do anything for him either. A priest and a Levite.
Because tonight we're not talking about keeping the law. That's what the young man was talking about. That came to the Lord. He wanted to inherit eternal life. He wanted to do something to earn salvation.
He was a fine man, impeccable in keeping the law, perhaps, as far as he was concerned.
But the law wouldn't save. Religion doesn't save. We're not presenting religion tonight. We're presenting a person.
Religion doesn't save, works don't save.
I'm sure there are many tonight in this world who, if they were told to make great pilgrimages and abuse their body and do great things, they would do it to try to earn salvation, to inherit eternal life. But it cannot be done. Oh no. There was only one who could help this man who was lying in the ditch, and that was this Samaritan. A certain Samaritan, you know, the priest and the Levite. They came down by chance. But the Samaritan didn't come by chance. The Lord Jesus. Again, I speak carefully. He didn't come into this world by chance. He came in the fullness of time. God sent forth his Son, born of a woman.
God had a perfect time table. Nothing frustrates that timetable either.
It wasn't by chance that you came into this room tonight. No, nothing happens in our lives by chance.
And so it was not by chance that this certain Samaritan came, and as he journeyed, he came where he was. Isn't that beautiful? The Lord Jesus came from the courts of glory. 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. He came where we were. It says he was made sin who knew no sin.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Oh, this is the glorious gospel. This is God's wonderful provision for you and for me. Through his Son, this Samaritan came where he was, and he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine.
You know everyone of us here tonight who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior. We have, as it were, had the oil poured in.
Everyone of us here are indwelt by the Spirit of God, and that's the power for our lives through this world. It's been sometimes said, and I believe rightly so, that the new nature that which we receive when we become a new creature in Christ Jesus, a new creation, it has no power of itself. But the power for the Newman is the spirit of God. It's important to understand that because sometimes when the gospel is presented, people say, well, I'd like to be a Christian, but I could never live like that. I could never live.
As a Christian is required to live. But we're not asked to live the Christian life on our own strength. He gives us the power to live for his glory here in this world. There was the wine too. That's the joy that comes in believing. Oh, what joy it is tonight to know the Lord Jesus as your savior. Are you out after the bubbles of this world? It's like the carbon on your carbonated drink when you go to McDonald's. It's just there for a little while. It rises quickly to the surface and it's gone.
Oh, don't chase the bubbles of this world.
They don't give lasting joy. They won't give you peace. They might give you happiness for a moment, and there is pleasure in sin, but it's only for a season. It's only for a moment. But oh, tonight we're speaking about a lasting joy that comes in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, in having confidence in him, in knowing that our sins are washed away and that at any moment we're going to hear a shout and we're going to rise to meet the Lord Jesus.
00:55:12
In the air. Does that bring joy to your heart tonight? Or are you squirming a little bit and saying, well, there's only three or 4 minutes left to the Gospel Meeting and then it will be over?
Or if it doesn't bring joy to your heart tonight to look up and know that the Lord Jesus is coming, that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Oh, I want to tell you, it will be a sad and solemn event for those who are left behind, When once the master of the house hath risen up and shut to the door, then they'll begin to knock and say, Lord, Lord, open unto us, is that door ever opened again? No words come back from the other side of that door to ring in their ears for eternity. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you.
The message tonight is come unto me.
If you refuse that message, there will be a day when the message to you will be depart from me.
3 short words in either case, is it hard to understand? Is this something difficult or complicated to come unto me?
Depart from me.
Well, we find this man was taken from this ditch and he wasn't just left on his own to get along and get back to Jerusalem where he belonged. No, this Samaritan put him on his own beast and took him to the inn and brought him to the inn and took care of him.
And there are many here who have known the Lord Jesus for many, many, many years. And everyone will attest.
That when they got saved, they were not only saved from hell, not only was glory before them, but in the interim there was one who has cared for them.
All along the path of faith.
In to see an elderly sister some time ago. We enjoyed that verse in Psalm 37. I have been young.
And now I'm old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread. He takes care of us all along. I wouldn't want to trade places with anyone that isn't a Christian. Sometimes people think about what they'll have to give up if they become a Christian. The only thing I gave up were my sins, and I'm glad they're gone. As far as the East is from the West so far. If he removed our transgressions from us. And what I have received in return is so much greater. A home at the end of the journey. But not only that one.
Me every step one who says I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
Are you saved tonight? Have you listened to God's word?