TRANSCRIPT 🔗
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It's just me and my own this evening, so I don't plan to keep you a full hour or anything.
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So we'll just turn firstly to a couple of readings from the scripture.
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And we'll start firstly in John's Gospel, Chapter 3.
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And what's on my mind this evening I would be exercised to just give you a very
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brief word of testimony And then I want to talk I want to speak about what the
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Bible has to say about faith,
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That's a topic that is maybe much discussed in our world In many different forums,
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But I want to see what the Bible has to say about it And what we can learn If
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there's any lesson that we can
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learn So John's Gospel chapter 3 a very well-known verse, verse number 16.
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
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that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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We'll read it again. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
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Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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That verse has sometimes been called the gospel in a nutshell there's everything
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in that verse that you need to know to be saved and can we turn to the book
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of revelation and chapter 20.
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Revelation chapter 20 and verse number 11 not a passage of scripture that i
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like to read but it was a passage that was used in my awakening and salvation,
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and i saw a great white throne and verse 11 and i saw a great white throne and
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him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there
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was found no place for them,
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and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened
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and another book was opened which is the book of life,
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and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books
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according to their works and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death
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and hell delivered up the dead which were in them,
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and they were judged every man According to his works And death and hell were
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cast into the lake of fire This
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is the second death And then verse 15 And whosoever was not found written,
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In the book of life Was cast into the lake of fire Now can we read just one
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further passage In Hebrews chapter 11.
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Hebrews chapter 11 Verse number 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped
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for The evidence of things not seen Verse 4 By faith Abel offered unto God,
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A more excellent sacrifice than Cain By which he obtained witness that he was
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righteous God testifying of his gifts And by it he being dead Yet speaketh And
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then down to verse number 7.
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By faith Noah Being warned of God Of things not seen as yet.
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Moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house,
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by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith.
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By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
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after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out,
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not knowing whether he went, by faith he sojourned in the land of promise,
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as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
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and the heirs with him of the same promise.
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For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
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Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed,
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and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
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Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead,
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so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the
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sea's shore innumerable.
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And then if we turn to verse 17, By faith Abraham, when he was tried,
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offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
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of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that
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God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure.
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And I think that's all we'll read just for now. We trust with God's blessing upon his precious word.
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I would like just at the outset of the meeting very briefly to relate something
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of my conversion and my salvation.
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And I don't like speaking too much of self from the platform,
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but I trust that maybe it could be of help to some unsaved in our gospel meeting
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this evening that it might
Load full transcript
help to direct you in the way of salvation.
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I was born and brought up in circumstances very similar to I would say many here.
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I was brought along to gospel meetings and Sunday school from my earliest.
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And I always knew, I always knew I was a sinner in the sight of God.
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And I would have never questioned it. If you would have asked me,
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I would have never questioned it. My parents were very faithful.
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They made sure that if there were meetings in the area, within driving distance,
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I would have been along at meetings similar to this one, and series of gospel meetings.
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And, you know, even from primary school days, it was a labor to me to go along to gospel meetings.
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My friends would have been out doing different things And going different places
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And I would have been going along Sometimes during the week If there was special
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series of meetings on I would have been going along to gospel meetings Well,
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I don't know if there's anyone here That thinks like that Maybe you think there's
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things You could be better doing with your time,
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I thought like that But you know I'm glad That my parents,
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brought me along from my earliest To hear the message of the gospel The most
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important message that you could ever hear that tells us, it tells us very clearly,
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of our guilt and our need in the sight of God.
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You know, I would say most here in our gospel meeting this evening would know,
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that sin entered into the world by our first parents in the Garden of Eden.
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The Bible tells us as by one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin.
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And that means that death has passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
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You and I are not to blame for the sins of Adam and Eve.
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You and I are to blame for our own sin. We have that sinful nature within,
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and because of that sinful nature, we go against God. We go directly in the
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opposite direction that God would have us to go, and in God's sight.
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In God's holy sight, God is sinless and perfect, and He's just and true.
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And in His sight, sin cannot be in His presence.
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And you and I as guilty sinners cannot be in His presence. But you know there's
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a glad side to the gospel. That's
what the word gospel means. It means good news.
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There's good news for you this evening. There's good news for us all this evening.
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For God would desire that you would be reunited to Him.
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You know that great divide came in In the garden of Eden Sin entered in And
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that great divide between God and man You know man fell away God didn't fall
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away Man fell away from God Because of his sin But you know God's desire is,
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That you and I would be brought back to him,
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And God's desire That that,
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would be so is so strong That he made a provision.
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He made a way That you and I could be brought back I you know at times I marvel
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that God ever looked upon us.
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Ever, we say, and I trust respectfully speaking, that he ever bothered with us.
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Why would he ever bother with us? Guilty sinners who had turned their backs
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on him and went their own way.
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And yet God, he not only bothered with us, he provided the very best that he could provide.
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He gave his only begotten son. We have read in John chapter 3 and verse 16,
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For God so loved the world, as the world of sinners, you and I,
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that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
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perish, but have everlasting life.
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Amen. That's the message that I heard week in, week out from my earliest.
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But you know, that message got in, and I remember learning verses of Scripture
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in Sunday school, and those things never left me. they were in my mind and I remember.
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As I say, I remember feeling restricted, but I also remember knowing that I
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was a sinner and that if I was going to be in heaven, I would have to do something about it.
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You know, my upbringing was sheltered from many things, but there was quite
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a number of times, I would say,
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before I was the age of 12 or 13, there was quite a number of times that God
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spoke loudly to me I remember,
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in very particularly I remember there was one time that I was probably about
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10 years of age and the fire had been lit and it had got down low.
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In the front room and I put a newspaper over it I'm sure you're not supposed
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to do that to try and get the fire going
again and the newspaper caught fire,
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and it burnt my arm from the end of my finger up to my elbow And,
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you know There was a commotion And my arm was fine Over a number of weeks It
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was fine But I remember for those few weeks The pain in my arm,
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Just this part of my arm The pain I couldn't sit in a room Because it was stinging,
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With the heat that had got into my arm And I remember thinking If that's just
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If it a few seconds is like Of fire What's eternity going to be like for me?
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To be under the wrath and judgment of God forever.
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You know that spoke to me loudly.
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And really that never left me.
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I remember as well in the year 2003. My grandfather was taken ill.
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And well we heard bad news that he wasn't going to make it. And I was only about 13.
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12 or 13 at the time.
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And I remember going in to see him. And he said to me, it was only maybe two
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or three days before he passed away.
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He was saved and on his way to heaven. And I remember he was weak.
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But he said to me, I would like to see you in heaven someday.
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And that spoke very loudly to me. I realized that there was something final,
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about death and how important it was to be prepared.
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For if death was to come, you know, my grandfather had maybe a few weeks that
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he knew he wasn't going to last.
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But, you know, if death was to come suddenly for you or I, there's no time to
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prepare. And, you know, he was in no fit state to prepare either.
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It's good that he had prepared when he was young I would urge of everyone this
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evening Prepare to meet God Prepare Behold now is the acceptance time Behold
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now is the day of salvation,
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That spoke loudly to me And I remember the funeral came And passed And I went
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back to school And things returned just back to normal.
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But you know another time I remember shortly after that There was gospel meetings
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came to Martry and the speakers were her brother Samuel Nelson and her late
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brother Alec Wilson from OMA,
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and I didn't really have much concern so soon, maybe six months after that didn't
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have so much concern for my soul and I remember,
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about I think it was just coming into possibly the sixth week of those meetings
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that my father just one night he asked me would you not have any concern about your soul?
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I thought you would have been saved at these meetings And you know it just hit
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me that time was passing And opportunity was passing And I had had many many
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opportunities And would at some point God take.
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My answer is final. You know, those thoughts passed and I was concerned at the time.
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But I remember then in 2000, I think it was 2006, there was meetings came near
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us, probably about 20, 25 minutes away from us.
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And we'd have been there most nights. It was our late brother,
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Mr. Norman Calder and Mr. Stephen Gilfillan that spoke at those meetings.
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And we would have been there almost every night.
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And I went along And at this stage This was a few years after my grandfather
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had passed And at this stage,
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I really didn't want to be there I had no interest in being there I say that
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with a measure of shame now But at the time I just wanted to be doing other
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things And would have tried to make excuses That I had homework or something that I needed to do,
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But we were taken along Myself and my brother Nonetheless.
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I remember going to those meetings It was the Thursday night of the last week.
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I went into that meeting unconcerned about my soul.
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Maybe there's someone here and you've come in unconcerned about your soul, disinterested.
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Well, I went into that meeting just like that. Her brother Norman Coulter spoke
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and I don't remember anything said. And then Stephen Gilfillan got up and he
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read the passage in Revelation 20 that I have read to you the night.
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And the verse that spoke to me loudly was Whosoever was not found written in
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the book of life was cast into the lake of fire You know I have told you that
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I always knew I was a sinner,
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But there was something about it
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that hit me that night As never before I realized I'm going to be in hell,
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And there's nothing I can do about it. And God would be right in sending me there.
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There's no merit in me. There's nothing that I can offer to God as a peace offering.
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There's nothing that I can do or bring.
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And you know, I was awakened loudly. That voice spoke loudly.
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I think Stephen said something like, Young man, if you're not soon saved,
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you're going to be in hell.
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Well, I went home and did something I had never done before.
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I tried to read my Bible in the streetlights in the towns as we went through
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the towns on the way home.
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And I got home, went straight to my room, took my Bible with me for the first time ever.
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There was times I would have went to learn my verse for Sunday school,
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but this was the first time I had taken my Bible to search the scriptures to
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find an answer. I thought I had much knowledge of the Bible.
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I knew how to be saved and I would just believe a verse and that would be it.
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But you know, I read John 3 and 16 Isaiah 53 and 5 But he was wounded for our
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transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities The chastisement of our peace
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was upon him And with his stripes we are healed,
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And I read John 3 and 16 And I went back and forward between these two verses,
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And I thought I'll read these and I'll see something in them Something will just click,
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And I'll get saved well I read these verses for I would say well over an hour
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I couldn't see anything the more I read them the less I understood,
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and I had to accept with all my apparent knowledge and all the teaching I had
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had in the message of the gospel and of the scriptures I was as dark as night.
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I couldn't see how I could be saved. And you know, in desperation,
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I looked up from the Bible, and I realized that I was completely helpless to do anything for myself.
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I had tried all I could, and I couldn't get it. And I realized that...
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There's no salvation for you, you're going to be in hell. And just as that thought
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came to me, you know, I was taken in my thoughts to the place called Calvary.
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And there I seen the Lord Jesus Christ uplifted and nailed by the hands and
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by the feet to Calvary's cross.
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And, you know, I thought to myself, why was he there? Why did he offer himself there?
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And, you know, for the first time, I realized that he offered himself there
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for me. And just like that, I was saved.
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I rested upon him. I rested upon the finished work that he accomplished at Calvary's Cross.
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And I was saved just in a moment of time.
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You know, salvation's simple, but there's a reality about it.
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That was a very real experience for me that night.
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Just to realize that I'm helpless and hopeless, And even my trying and my believing
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My attempted believing Or any works or anything that I could do Was of no merit,
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But just realizing that the Lord Jesus Christ Has done the work He has finished
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it There was someone in the prayer meeting mentioned.
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The words that he cried It is finished And he bowed his head and dismissed his
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spirit The work's done The work's done And resting upon him,
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I knew the assurance of salvation You know,
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There was great joy after that that flooded into my soul to think for the first
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time in my life I could say that I would never be under the judgment of God but I would be in heaven,
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throughout the ages of eternity come what may whatever might befall me all was
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well for eternity I would like to stop at the moment,
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and ask you, how do you stand in light of eternity? Are you prepared?
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The Bible says, prepare to meet thy God. It also says, in such an hour as ye
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think not, the Son of Man cometh.
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You know, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return, and he's going to take the
00:18:27.101 --> 00:18:32.025
Christians away, and opportunity for any that are unsaved, just in a moment,
00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:37.030
and opportunity for any that are unsaved will be gone, and gone forever.
00:18:37.568 --> 00:18:42.601
You know that's why it's so important To prepare now I've said already the Bible
00:18:42.601 --> 00:18:50.828
says Behold now is the accepted time Behold now is the day of salvation But I want to look.
00:18:51.903 --> 00:18:59.664
Just briefly That was I should say That was in the year 2006 20th of April 2006 That I was saved,
00:19:00.323 --> 00:19:08.097
And I was received into the assembly In Martry in December 2010 hen or a remain to this day.
00:19:08.502 --> 00:19:14.543
You know, salvation should bring a change and should bring a change in interest
00:19:14.909 --> 00:19:18.741
and a change in direction and many changes in a person's life.
00:19:19.188 --> 00:19:22.491
There's the indwelling Holy Spirit received at the moment of salvation.
00:19:22.491 --> 00:19:28.911
None of these things will
bring salvation about for you, but after salvation
00:19:28.911 --> 00:19:31.118
has been received, there's a change.
00:19:31.467 --> 00:19:34.328
And I would ask, has there been a change in your life?
00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.676
Has there been a change in my life? And I'll leave that with you.
00:19:39.366 --> 00:19:45.181
In Hebrews chapter 11, we have read, and I just want to speak briefly on this
00:19:45.181 --> 00:19:50.522
chapter, we have read about faith and examples of faith.
00:19:51.238 --> 00:19:54.460
You know, that's something that confused me greatly before I was saved.
00:19:55.266 --> 00:20:00.571
We would have been told about faith or believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:20:00.571 --> 00:20:03.331
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
00:20:04.218 --> 00:20:08.769
And to me, I could not really easily understand what this meant.
00:20:09.019 --> 00:20:12.989
You know, I was just asking myself the question, what is faith?
00:20:14.198 --> 00:20:20.751
And what can faith do for you? You know, faith is your confidence placed in a person.
00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:27.693
It can be a person or a thing, but in light of the gospel, faith is confidence placed in a person.
00:20:28.270 --> 00:20:32.177
Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm to place confidence in any person,
00:20:32.786 --> 00:20:36.638
I would like some evidence for that confidence You know.
00:20:38.078 --> 00:20:43.638
If you were to place faith The person that you're going to marry That you're
00:20:43.638 --> 00:20:47.928
going to spend your life with Before you would marry that person You would like
00:20:47.928 --> 00:20:50.168
to have a measure of faith That they're going to be reliable,
00:20:50.826 --> 00:20:54.693
And there's many other things We judge, even when you came in this evening,
00:20:55.408 --> 00:20:59.278
And it's a very simple illustration But you had faith You looked at the seat
00:20:59.278 --> 00:21:01.812
And you had faith that it would be able to support your weight.
00:21:02.773 --> 00:21:08.988
You know, that confidence, that reliability I would like to reinforce with you
00:21:08.988 --> 00:21:16.716
this evening That God, when it comes to the matter of your eternal destiny God is 100% reliable,
00:21:17.278 --> 00:21:22.958
We have examples here of men and women That placed their faith in God And they
00:21:22.958 --> 00:21:28.458
were not disappointed in the slightest I can tell you, I have placed my faith
00:21:28.778 --> 00:21:30.318
on the Lord Jesus Christ Thank you.
00:21:31.261 --> 00:21:37.151
You know, there's no merit in my faith. You know, I would like to be respectful,
00:21:37.151 --> 00:21:39.393
but there's people who talk about their great faith.
00:21:40.045 --> 00:21:44.074
I couldn't talk about my great faith. I can talk about my great Savior.
00:21:44.585 --> 00:21:49.363
It's Him and Him alone that's able to save. Your faith must be placed in Him.
00:21:49.658 --> 00:21:53.997
But don't get all concerned with your faith and have you enough faith.
00:21:54.450 --> 00:21:59.394
Get concerned with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who died to save you.
00:21:59.777 --> 00:22:08.240
You know, this topic of faith, we have men here, we have this man Abel, and it says.
00:22:10.421 --> 00:22:13.673
Abel was the son of their first parents, Adam and Eve.
00:22:14.268 --> 00:22:19.319
And it says, by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than his brother Cain.
00:22:20.008 --> 00:22:25.901
You know, why was Abel's sacrifice more acceptable to God? Well,
00:22:25.901 --> 00:22:27.904
there was one reason, one alone.
00:22:29.241 --> 00:22:32.856
Abel offered a lamb And his blood was shed,
00:22:33.367 --> 00:22:38.711
Cain offered of the labors of the land And of fruits Abel offered a lamb And
00:22:38.711 --> 00:22:44.333
his blood must be shed You know I would say Abel learnt that from his parents,
00:22:45.085 --> 00:22:49.601
I would say all in our meeting tonight Know that sin entered in Adam and Eve
00:22:49.601 --> 00:22:51.970
disobeyed God And sin entered in
00:22:52.324 --> 00:22:56.121
And what did Adam and Eve do They took off the trees And they sowed the fig
00:22:56.121 --> 00:23:00.990
leaves together and they made themselves aprons to cover themselves because they were ashamed,
00:23:01.719 --> 00:23:03.652
but that was not acceptable to God at all.
00:23:04.911 --> 00:23:10.862
The Bible says, unto Adam and Eve did God make coats of skins and clothed them.
00:23:11.511 --> 00:23:17.895
The skin that clothed Adam and Eve, an animal had to die and blood had to be shed.
00:23:18.168 --> 00:23:23.085
That's a very important lesson to learn. If you and I are to be blessed eternally
00:23:23.445 --> 00:23:26.034
by God, blood must be shed.
00:23:26.543 --> 00:23:31.692
You know, it's not the blood of just a lamb as Abel shed the blood of that lamb.
00:23:32.259 --> 00:23:36.393
But it's the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ The Bible tells us,
00:23:36.932 --> 00:23:41.361
That you're not redeemed with corruptible things As silver and gold But with
00:23:41.361 --> 00:23:48.264
the precious blood of Christ As of a lamb Without blemish and without spot He was like no other lamb,
00:23:48.753 --> 00:23:54.421
He was perfect and spotless and pure And he was well pleasing to God And he
00:23:54.421 --> 00:23:55.868
was able to shed his blood,
00:23:56.501 --> 00:23:59.340
To make full atonement For the great problem of sin,
00:23:59.999 --> 00:24:04.781
and because of the sacrifice that he made at the place called Calvary salvation
00:24:04.781 --> 00:24:11.226
goes out is offered to everyone in our gospel meeting this evening without money and without price.
00:24:12.243 --> 00:24:18.291
But you know we have not only Abel but we have Noah I'm sure most here probably
00:24:18.291 --> 00:24:21.797
know the story of Noah and how that he was warned,
00:24:22.778 --> 00:24:27.771
you know it tells us he was warned I
want to think of Noah the first thing he
00:24:27.771 --> 00:24:34.391
heard Noah heard Noah heard the warning of God I would like to stop and ask
00:24:34.391 --> 00:24:36.680
you Have you heard the warning of God for you?
00:24:37.554 --> 00:24:41.212
You know, the message for Noah back in those days was a different message.
00:24:41.665 --> 00:24:48.494
But you know what was vital is that Noah listened to the message of God and
00:24:48.494 --> 00:24:50.617
he gave heed to it and he obeyed it.
00:24:51.226 --> 00:24:54.785
And you know, that's the same for you and I.
00:24:55.344 --> 00:25:01.470
If you and I are to be blessed and to be in heaven when life is over,
00:25:02.050 --> 00:25:06.914
it's absolutely critical that you hear the message and you give heed to the message.
00:25:06.914 --> 00:25:13.100
You know, it was a message. What kind of a message was it? By faith, Noah had been warned.
00:25:13.872 --> 00:25:18.706
It was a message of warning. Can I make sure that I issue a message of warning,
00:25:19.182 --> 00:25:22.158
to each one in our gospel meeting this evening?
00:25:22.854 --> 00:25:26.105
There's judgment ahead on account of your sin and mine.
00:25:26.872 --> 00:25:31.892
God is holy and just and pure, and sin must be punished.
00:25:32.409 --> 00:25:35.608
There's judgment ahead. There's a great message of warning.
00:25:36.139 --> 00:25:40.714
God desires that you would not be judged for your sin He has made provision
00:25:40.714 --> 00:25:44.107
that you would not be judged But you know I have to warn you this evening,
00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:50.160
If you continue on As many in Noah's day did The vast majority continued on
00:25:50.595 --> 00:25:54.664
Didn't give heed to Noah The message of God And the warning that there was going
00:25:54.664 --> 00:25:58.798
to be a great flood And they were going to be washed away Unless they entered the ark.
00:25:59.661 --> 00:26:04.604
That great message of warning You know the Bible tells us Because there is wrath
00:26:04.604 --> 00:26:10.734
beware Lest he take thee away with a stroke Then a great ransom cannot deliver
00:26:10.734 --> 00:26:12.537
thee You know there's wrath,
00:26:13.251 --> 00:26:18.278
and judgment on account of sin And once you cross that boundary line into eternity,
00:26:18.725 --> 00:26:21.268
There's no coming back There's no change in your mind,
00:26:22.234 --> 00:26:28.960
It's sealed and not for all eternity You know Noah being warned of God Of things not seen as yet.
00:26:29.938 --> 00:26:33.668
It seems like there was never, I don't think there was ever a flood or possibly
00:26:33.668 --> 00:26:35.277
never rain in Noah's day.
00:26:35.741 --> 00:26:39.984
And you know, no doubt, those who seen Noah build this ark on dry land,
00:26:40.436 --> 00:26:42.480
they mocked and they scorned.
00:26:43.236 --> 00:26:49.678
Well, isn't that just like our day? You know, we have not seen God coming.
00:26:52.258 --> 00:26:56.108
There's those who would mock and scorn at the thought that God will return.
00:26:56.828 --> 00:27:00.816
But you know, those that mocked and scorned As soon as the rain started to fall,
00:27:01.646 --> 00:27:06.078
They desired to be in the ark Of that I have no doubt But you know,
00:27:06.398 --> 00:27:11.658
the door was shut And the time of opportunity was past I would beseech of you
00:27:11.658 --> 00:27:14.408
this evening Don't leave it until it's too late,
00:27:15.149 --> 00:27:20.356
Don't leave it until the Lord returns Don't even leave it until a better day
00:27:20.716 --> 00:27:25.408
Don't leave it until maybe you're laid aside in ill health Maybe you don't even
00:27:25.408 --> 00:27:27.072
have a period of ill health
00:27:27.484 --> 00:27:30.619
Don't put off the matter Of getting right with God.
00:27:31.549 --> 00:27:35.953
You know, these people, they else put it off or they just mocked and didn't enter in.
00:27:36.591 --> 00:27:40.889
But you know, Noah and his household, Noah preached the gospel.
00:27:40.889 --> 00:27:44.794
Noah preached the message of God for over a hundred years.
00:27:45.575 --> 00:27:48.878
And there was just eight souls that entered in and they were saved.
00:27:49.180 --> 00:27:52.732
They entered in and they were saved from that great flood, the ark.
00:27:53.063 --> 00:27:57.391
The ark bore the judgment and the water and the storm.
00:27:58.038 --> 00:28:02.689
And it weathered the storm. And they were safe inside the ark And you know it
00:28:02.689 --> 00:28:07.309
tells us Way back if we read it in Genesis It tells us that the ark was covered
00:28:07.309 --> 00:28:12.568
Within and without with pitch It was waterproof There was no water that could get anywhere near,
00:28:13.073 --> 00:28:15.691
Noah and his wife and his family.
00:28:16.373 --> 00:28:22.309
They were entirely safe You know That's a lovely picture for me Of the person
00:28:22.309 --> 00:28:27.509
of the Lord Jesus Christ Who bore the judgment of God On Calvary's cross on
00:28:27.509 --> 00:28:29.739
account of the great problem of sin.
00:28:29.739 --> 00:28:34.098
And you know, I'm sheltered beneath his blood this evening.
00:28:34.214 --> 00:28:38.582
And there's many here could say the same as well. I wonder are you?
00:28:39.202 --> 00:28:43.272
I wonder are you sheltered beneath the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? You can be.
00:28:43.800 --> 00:28:48.389
And it's God's desire that you would be. God, our Savior, will have all men
00:28:48.389 --> 00:28:51.279
to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth.
00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:58.169
The Lord Jesus Christ bore fully and entirely the punishment of God on account
00:28:58.169 --> 00:29:03.639
of the great problem of sin but you know finally we have this man Abraham,
00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:09.109
and it says he went out, he was called to go out to a place which he should
00:29:09.109 --> 00:29:11.927
after receive for an inheritance he went out,
00:29:12.385 --> 00:29:16.745
and he knew not whether he went, you know I have no doubt that Noah,
00:29:16.995 --> 00:29:22.279
sorry that Abraham would have been mocked by those he was brought from he left
00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:25.218
the land of idolatry the Ur of the Chaldees,
00:29:25.792 --> 00:29:30.790
And travelled away something like Maybe 500 or 600 miles Travelled away to Horan,
00:29:31.793 --> 00:29:36.200
And he didn't know where he was going. God had spoken to him.
00:29:36.838 --> 00:29:41.128
And Abraham obeyed God. The Bible tells us, and I think it's verse number 6.
00:29:43.362 --> 00:29:47.426
I'm not sure, it's not verse number 6. But it's in the passage here somewhere.
00:29:48.003 --> 00:29:52.897
That Abraham believed God. And it was counted unto him for righteousness.
00:29:53.546 --> 00:29:57.741
You know, Abraham in himself. He was like you and I.
00:29:59.113 --> 00:30:03.533
He was a sinner. But you know he was counted righteous Because he believed the
00:30:03.533 --> 00:30:09.213
message That God had for him You know you and I are guilty sinners In the sight
00:30:09.213 --> 00:30:12.824
of God I'm no different than you All guilty in the sight of God,
00:30:13.456 --> 00:30:18.723
But if you're willing to come in repentance Of your sin To listen to the message
00:30:18.723 --> 00:30:23.359
that God has for you The message that tells you That you're guilty in God's sight,
00:30:24.188 --> 00:30:31.007
And without hope But that same message that tells you That the Lord Jesus Christ has died for you.
00:30:31.228 --> 00:30:36.293
If you're willing to accept that, if you're willing to repent of your sin and
00:30:36.293 --> 00:30:43.051
accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, you could be saved even tonight. Abraham, he journeyed.
00:30:44.393 --> 00:30:50.901
He obeyed God. You know, God didn't force Abraham. He didn't force Abraham to leave all that he had.
00:30:51.430 --> 00:30:55.543
You know, if you're going to be saved, there might be things that you'll have
00:30:55.543 --> 00:31:00.233
to leave behind there might be hobbies that you might have to leave behind there
00:31:00.233 --> 00:31:05.738
might be people that you might have to leave behind it might not be so easy to do those things,
00:31:06.659 --> 00:31:10.689
Salvation is freely offered, but you know, you'll have to be done with your
00:31:10.689 --> 00:31:13.849
sin and the things of the world if you're going to get saved.
00:31:14.300 --> 00:31:20.802
You know, Abraham, he obeyed. He wasn't forced, and God will not force any man,
00:31:21.659 --> 00:31:27.885
or woman into salvation. The offer is made freely, without money and without price.
00:31:28.463 --> 00:31:34.698
And the question that can be asked of you is, what shall you do with Jesus, which is called Christ?
00:31:35.895 --> 00:31:42.499
You know, all of these people that we have mentioned They all benefited from,
00:31:43.186 --> 00:31:46.989
listening to the message that God had for them But you know,
00:31:46.989
--> 00:31:49.275
I want to think very briefly of a woman,
00:31:49.936 --> 00:31:54.059
The Bible tells us, I just want to issue a word of warning as I close The Bible
00:31:54.059 --> 00:32:00.710
tells us, remember Lot's wife That was a woman, and there was a message An angel came.
00:32:01.959 --> 00:32:07.649
To her and Lot And said get thee out And Sodom and Gomorrah was going to be
00:32:07.649 --> 00:32:11.609
destroyed with fire And you know they didn't get out as quickly as they should
00:32:11.609 --> 00:32:15.586
They should have went immediately And it says the angel came and took them out,
00:32:16.332 --> 00:32:20.459
The angel came and took them out God's desire was that they would not perish
00:32:20.459 --> 00:32:25.480
in the judgment But you know as they were making their way away from those cities,
00:32:26.163 --> 00:32:30.859
The Bible tells us that Lot's wife she looked behind She looked behind her Looked
00:32:30.859 --> 00:32:33.808
back at the city It was a look of longing she wanted to be back.
00:32:34.818 --> 00:32:38.098
And the Bible tells us she became a pillar of salt. You know,
00:32:38.098 --> 00:32:39.682
God took her decision as final.
00:32:40.307 --> 00:32:44.301
I wonder what decision will you make this evening when it comes to the matter
00:32:44.655 --> 00:32:47.470
of your soul's salvation. God has done all that he could.
00:32:47.993 --> 00:32:50.547
God desires, longs for your blessing.
00:32:51.152 --> 00:32:55.772
He has provided salvation through the death of his son at the place called Calvary.
00:32:56.393 --> 00:33:00.863
But remember, God leaves the responsibility entirely with each individual.
00:33:01.407 --> 00:33:06.218
God will not force you into salvation, but it is very much his desire that you
00:33:06.218 --> 00:33:10.734
would be saved I leave the little message with you I trust it might be to blessing,
00:33:11.222 --> 00:33:13.294
for some in our gospel meeting this evening,
00:33:13.959 --> 00:33:18.638
and that you might get to Christ while yet it is the day of grace we know not
00:33:18.638 --> 00:33:19.834
what will be in the morrow,
00:33:20.455 --> 00:33:24.748
boast not thyself of tomorrow thou knowest not what a day may bring forth I
00:33:24.748 --> 00:33:28.878
would urge if there is anyone here as yet unsaved that you would seek the Lord
00:33:28.878 --> 00:33:32.866
this very night don't delay seek the Lord while he may be found,
00:33:33.429 --> 00:33:37.643
and call upon him while he is near now will flows in prayer.
00:33:39.558 --> 00:33:45.918
Our Father we bow in thy holy presence in the precious name of our Lord Jesus
00:33:45.918 --> 00:33:51.492
Christ and we give thee thanks for the Lamb of thy providing we think of that,
00:33:52.478 --> 00:33:57.238
Old Testament story your Lamb shall be without blemish and without spot a male
00:33:57.238 --> 00:34:00.710
of the first year and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel
00:34:01.070 --> 00:34:05.198
shall kill it in the evening We give thee thanks for the person of our Lord
00:34:05.198 --> 00:34:07.832
Jesus Christ, of whom this spoke of,
00:34:08.391 --> 00:34:12.578
that one who went to the place called Calvary and willingly laid down his life.
00:34:12.578 --> 00:34:17.858
He gave himself a ransom for all. We pray for the need of those gathered under
00:34:17.858 --> 00:34:19.418
the sound of thy word this evening.
00:34:19.418 --> 00:34:23.358
We pray for their salvation, for any that are as yet unseared.
00:34:23.358 --> 00:34:27.288
We pray for their salvation and ask now that thou would grant us thy parting
00:34:27.288 --> 00:34:32.278
blessing in the worthy and precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.