Luke (Quality: Average)

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[2:00] As the Lord shall help us, friends, this morning, we would ask you to turn to the 22nd chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verse 61 and 62.

[2:12] That is the 22nd chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verse 61 and 62.

[2:50] We have given a true spirit of repentance before God for the sins that we have committed.

[3:26] And friends, the repentance is not something that you do when you are converted. Repentance, my friends, is a continual thing with the people of God.

[3:38] You know, many people, they seem to think that when they have been baptized, they have repented and that is the end of it as far as they are concerned.

[3:49] Well, my friends, it isn't the end of it at all. It's only the beginning. Because, my friends, if you have your heart opened to see the vileness that is within it, you will be flying to the fountain of Jesus Christ daily in your life.

[4:08] I want you to look this morning just for a short while at Peter. Peter, my friends, was not just converted when he went out and he wept very bitterly.

[4:19] My friends, Peter had fallen very foully in the ways of God. Peter had said, I will go to prison for thee, Lord. I will go to death for thee, Lord.

[4:32] I will die for the Lord. My friends, Peter was very, very, very strong in faith, but he was very weak in the flesh. He was very, very strong in the spirit, but his flesh was weak.

[4:47] And friends, Peter was the bold one. Peter was the one who was impulsive. But, my friends, I do feel this morning that I can walk with Simon Peter.

[4:59] Because, my friends, amidst all that Peter had done, the Lord did not cast him off. You know, friends, unless you and I are brought to repent before God.

[5:12] What happens today, friends, if suddenly the Lord should strike us down with an illness? What happens today, my friends, if we feel that we are being brought to the end of our days?

[5:26] Where do we stand for the never-ending eternity? Where do I stand this morning before my God? Where do you stand, young and old?

[5:37] You know, my friends, the gospel is not for the old people. The gospel is not only for the old people. It's for those who have souls this morning who have been born into this world.

[5:50] Friends, it's now. Repentance is now, friends. And you young people this morning, flee to Christ while the light is here.

[6:04] Flee to the Lord Jesus Christ. And ask the Lord for repentance. And ask for the Lord for forgiveness. And, my friends, you will receive it at the feet of Jesus.

[6:15] Oh, friends, if you were not fleeing to Jesus. If you have not confessed this morning that you are a sinner before the Lord. That you stand in need of forgiveness.

[6:26] Then you are still in an unconverted state. Whether you be a young person or an old person. My friends, you must flee to Jesus. And fall before Him.

[6:36] And ask of Him for forgiveness. You know, friends, we are living in solemn times. We do not know, friends, what a day may bring forth. Even in our life. What would happen, friends, if we were called this morning to the judgment seat of Christ?

[6:52] What would happen this morning? Friends, if the Lord said unto me and He said unto you. Set thine house in order. For thou shalt die and not live. Friends, where would you stand?

[7:04] Where would I stand? Have you repented of your sins? Has the Lord granted unto you repentance? Or are you going on and saying, well, I can do nothing about it.

[7:15] Friends, that's fatal, isn't it? There are thousands this morning who are sailing to a lost eternity. Because they are saying this, friends. If I have to be saved, I will be saved.

[7:27] And they go on, friends. And they go on and they go on. My friends, we know all about election. God has a people in this world this morning. He has thousands and thousands of never dying souls on this planet.

[7:42] Who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the land. Do you want me to give you some evidence of it? Well, friends. I picked a book up yesterday.

[7:53] It was called A Song in Siberia. And friends, I would advise you all to read it. How the Lord has converted, friends, thousands and thousands of those in the Soviet Union to the faith of Jesus.

[8:09] And friends, I read a letter which was sent to England in 1974 by a body of young men and women who had been quickened by the Spirit of God.

[8:20] Oh, what a letter it was. Friends, it broke my heart to read it. The Lord had quickened my friends. And he's quickening this morning. Thousands and thousands in the communist world.

[8:33] And friends, they're in great persecution. But they're meeting, friends, in homes all over Russia. Isn't it wonderful? Thousands of them. The people of God, friends.

[8:45] Look at the state of our churches. Friends, look how complacent we are. Look at this chapel this morning, friends. Look at the idleness that we are in in this town. Friends, this morning we're without excuse.

[8:57] If the Lord sent the judgments upon this town, we're without excuse, friends. The gospel is here. Repentance is here. And men and women have not repented. Men and women have not followed the Lord Jesus Christ.

[9:11] Men and women, friends, are not going in the pathway of God. But friends, there's a judgment day coming. And we will all have to give an account of the deeds done in the body. Now, friends, the Lord has blessed.

[9:21] Why is the Lord blessed in the Soviet Union? Have you ever thought about it? Why is the Lord, my friends, quickening? Thousands and thousands of lost souls in that country. Because we're in great persecution.

[9:34] And God has a people, friends. Even in Russia. That's why the world is standing this morning. My friends, it's now that I'm interested in. I'm not really interested in what happened a hundred years ago.

[9:45] It's now. I can't live, my friends, upon that. I want my God now. The same God, friends, who quickened Abraham. Abraham was in idolatry.

[9:56] The Lord said, get thee out. That's the God that I want to know, friends. Do you want to know him? Do you prove this God? Are you wrestling with him at the throne of grace? You know, friends, if there's no wrestling, there'll be no blessing.

[10:10] How the Lord is blessing in that country. Now, I would ask you to read that book. It's in the public libraries. And it's called A Song in Siberia. And, friends, it's a wonderful, blessed book.

[10:22] It's what God is doing in 1974. 75, 76, 77, 78, 79 and 80. And now it's 81. That's what I want to know about, friends.

[10:34] I wish they'd put some of these in the magazines, you know. What God is doing now. I can't rest, friends. What happened 100 years ago. They were good men.

[10:45] But, friends, they're dead. It's now that we want to know what is happening today, friends, in the churches. Why are our churches, friends, going down? Why are we complacent?

[10:56] Because we have the love of Christ in our souls. That's the answer. If we have the love of Christ in our souls, friends, we would give him no rest until the blessing came.

[11:08] Friends, we're not always feeling in the Spirit of God. We're not always on the mountain top. But, friends, that's nothing to do with it. Jesus Christ has said, prove me now and see if I will not open the windows of heaven.

[11:23] Why is the Lord, friends, blessing in those far-off countries? Because, friends, they're fervent at the throne of grace. They've prayer meetings nearly every night, friends.

[11:34] And God has blessed them. Oh, my friends, how hard work it is for many of our people to attend a prayer meeting. My friends, it's no wonder the Lord has a controversy with us.

[11:47] If prayer meetings in the homes, friends, every night, they're looking unto Jesus and God is blessing them. And that's why they've been blessed. That's why, my friends, there's four and five hundred of a congregation in a home.

[12:00] Think of it. 250 people in a little home. And, friends, they all got in somehow. And Jesus Christ is so precious to them.

[12:11] Oh, friends, the letter that those people sent to the West. It's the nicest letter I've ever seen written, friends. It was written in the Spirit of Jesus. You know, it did me far more good than reading what somebody said in 1665.

[12:28] Friends, I'm not really bothered what happened in 1665. I'm living in 1981. And, friends, it's a living God I want to prove. It's the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[12:41] You young people this morning. Jesus Christ is still there, friends. He's a real person. And he forgives sins. And he says to you, follow him. And, friends, you're going your own way.

[12:53] And you're walking in the ways of the world. And, my friends, if you go on in that way, when you come to your dying day, you will say, depart from me. Yea, I never knew you.

[13:04] Oh, my friends, turn from your wicked ways. And seek the Lord while he may be found. He is a loving Lord Jesus. He is a blessed Savior. But, my friends, he's no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

[13:18] He's no pleasure in the death of those who revile him. Friends, such is his blessed love for those who turn to him that he forgives their sins. And, my friends, one day he's coming.

[13:31] And it might not be too long before he comes again. Friends, how will you stand when Jesus Christ comes again? My friends, he will not take any excuses. And say, well, I'm only a young person.

[13:43] And I want to have my fill of the world. Oh, friends, that's the spirit of the devil. That's what the devil is saying to thousands in this town this morning. Eat, drink, and be merry.

[13:54] We have a long time to live yet. But, friends, they haven't a long time to live. Time is short. And, friends, unless you receive repentance. Unless you are given a spirit of forgiveness.

[14:06] Unless you receive the pardon of your sins. Where will you stand when you come to a dying bed? My friends, you will not be able to go to heaven on a good life. You can't go to heaven on good works.

[14:17] You can't go to heaven because you've been a moral character. That won't stand when you come to your dying bed. There are many people, friends, who say, well, I'm no worse than him next door.

[14:29] That won't stand, friends. And, friends, there are many people in the churches. They're resting on baptism. They're resting on particular Baptists. They're resting on their forefathers. But, friends, they will not stand when they come to die.

[14:43] What will stand, friends, is a precious Jesus, which is revealed unto you. If Jesus Christ has been made precious unto you, it does not mean to say you will not have temptations.

[14:54] It does not mean to say you won't have afflictions. You won't have trials. You won't have sorrows. You will. The Lord has said it shall be through much tribulation. We shall enter the kingdom of God.

[15:06] My friends, we're not immune from those things. But, oh, if these circumstances, friends, which we go through, clog us up that we don't see Jesus. And, friends, we pour upon ourselves and the church is not being built up.

[15:19] The church is not being built up. Oh, friends, if you had to read some of those things that I was reading. One dear man, friends, who was 34 years of age. Friends, he was converted from the sin of drunkenness to a precious Jesus.

[15:34] And, friends, they had put him in a jail in Siberia. And they had ripped his nails out, friends, for the love of Christ. And, friends, he was speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. And they ripped his tongue out.

[15:46] Friends, what about it? He was testifying to the jail about the Lord Jesus Christ. And they had ripped his tongue out. And he was only 43 when he died.

[16:00] He'd only been converted eight years, friends, or nine years. Those are the characters, my friends, who are in heaven this morning. I know, friends, how would I stand?

[16:11] How would you stand? If persecution should come to this land. And the Lord should say, be thou faithful unto death. And I will give thee a crown of life. Would you and I be able to stand?

[16:23] Think of it, my friends. That's real religion, isn't it? They did everything to that poor man, my friends. And then they killed him at finish. When they opened his coffin, friends, he looked like a man of nine.

[16:36] He was only 43. Oh, but what were his last words? Into thy hands I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me. Would not give in, friends, for the faith of Jesus.

[16:46] He died a martyr's death. Well, friends, you might say, well, why is all this persecution come? Friends, it's because of the hatred that Satan has for the Lord Jesus Christ.

[17:00] Think of the death and the glorious death of the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. Think what they did to him, my friends, when he went down the Calvary Road. When he was brought before Pilate.

[17:12] When he was in the judgment hall. What did they do to Jesus? They lashed him. They whipped him. They scourged him. They smote him across the face with the palm of their hand.

[17:24] They said, prophesy over there. And Jesus never answered them a word. My friends, and the Lord has said to his dear disciples, follow me. Not an easy path, no easy.

[17:40] And friends, that's a true story this morning about that dear man. He was the biggest drunkard in that town. Of Bono in Siberia.

[17:51] And for eight years, friends, he was a faithful follower of the land. Until they cast him into the prison house. And friends, they tried to make him recalmed.

[18:02] And friends, the last thing they did, as he was testified of the Lord Jesus Christ. They ripped his tongue out. So they could not speak, friends.

[18:16] Oh, you think of it this morning, friends. And look how complacent this country of ours is. You go around this morning, my friends, through the length and breadth of England.

[18:29] And see how many churches are filled with hungry souls after Christ. Not so many. Not so many, friends. And why has the Lord, my friends, a controversy with Zion?

[18:42] Because we have said we are rich and we have need of nothing. That's what we have said. The Laodicean church said he was rich and they had need of nothing. Is that what you are saying this morning?

[18:54] I am rich. I have need of nothing. I am comfortable. I am well off. But knowest not that thou art poor, blind and wretched and miserable. That's what Jesus said to the church at Laodicea.

[19:07] They were neither hot nor cold, friends. They were sitting back on their leaves. They were sitting back on a profession of religion. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire.

[19:18] That's what Jesus has said to you and I. My friends, how is this church going to be built again? We're going to have to get up and work, friends. I notice coming up this morning some of the houses are ready for occupation.

[19:33] I would imagine another three or four weeks, friends, half of those houses will be occupied by men and women. There's going to have to be a bit of knocking down, friends. We're going to have to go around and see them and tell them of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[19:48] It's not going to be an easy job, you know, friends. We're going to be persecuted for it and reviled. It doesn't matter, though. My friends, what's it matter if Jesus is honoured and God is glorified and the Lord has built this church again?

[20:03] Not just this church, friends. The church in England. The church of the living God. That's what I'm concerned about. The church of Jesus. That church which he has redeemed by his precious blood.

[20:19] And my friends, how many of us this morning are really concerned about it. How much knee work have you and I done this week for the church of Jesus in Aslandon?

[20:30] Have you been wrestling on your knees with the throne of grace? Have you said, Lord, I cannot let thee go until thou dost something? Because, my friends, unless it's a burden upon our heart, we're complacent.

[20:46] We're not bothered if the devil helps us on, you know. The devil loves to help us on with these things. The Lord has said, now will I arise. Well, Lord, I want thee to work.

[20:58] I want to see it, Lord. I want to see it. I want to see conversions. I want to see men and women following the Lord Jesus Christ. And, friends, I am not happy with the state of things.

[21:10] I cannot rest, friends, until God works in this town of ours. I want to see men and women following the Lamb. Because, my friends, if they don't follow the Lamb in this life, there'll be no following when they come to die.

[21:27] You know, friends, why people don't believe the gospel today? Because they don't believe God sends men and women to hell, friends. That's the truth. You do not believe that God is a holy God and he cannot look upon sin with the least degree of the lambs.

[21:44] Or you would come to the Lord Jesus Christ this morning and ask for forgiveness for your never-dying soul. You would say, Lord, I cannot let thee go until the blessing there be so.

[21:58] And you would follow the Lamb and you would work for the Lord Jesus Christ for your dying breath. Or you would, friends. If you are a follower of the Lamb, you would have a different spirit, friends.

[22:10] And I would have a different spirit. We need our spirit softening, friends. We need to be taken to Calvary this morning. We need to be taken by the Spirit of God to the feet of Jesus to see how he suffered upon the tree, to see how he was wounded, to see those nails which were driven into his hands, to see the spear which went to his ribbon side, to see by faith the crown of thorns upon his head.

[22:35] And did my Lord suffer and shall I reply? Then you will have a different spirit. Then you will be brought in a submissive spirit to the throne of grace. Not until. And I won't crash.

[22:46] We need breaking down. We need the Lord to break us down at the feet of Jesus. Friends, Peter had fallen. Peter denied the Lord.

[22:57] Not only did he deny the Lord, he denied him with odds and curses. He swore, friends. He cursed the Lord Jesus. He said, I never knew the man. I never knew the man.

[23:10] How are you identified in the world when things come up? How am I identified with the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you ashamed of it? Are you ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ this morning?

[23:20] Are you ashamed of him in your employment at work? Am I ashamed of him? Are you ashamed of Jesus in your home? Are we ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ?

[23:31] Well, it's a sinful shame, brethren. It's an awful sinful shame. And we are ashamed of him, friends. It is a sinful shamefulness. And we're ashamed of Jesus many times.

[23:44] When you go to visit someone, do you speak to them of the Lord Jesus Christ and their never dying soul? Do you tell them, my friend, if they repent, they will perish? What about us that go to visit the sick?

[23:57] Those who are laid upon dying beds. Those whose life are hanging between heaven and hell. Do you tell them, friends, the awful state they are in by nature? Do you tell them that there is only one foundation and that's the Lord Jesus?

[24:12] Friends, we don't. This is what's the trouble. We don't witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I. What do you speak about when you go to visit those who are laid aside in the nasty?

[24:24] Those, my friends, who are hanging between life and death. Do you speak to them of Christ? Do you tell them that they must repent? Oh, friends, we have neglected it, friends, haven't we?

[24:38] We're all guilty of it. We do not go to these people. We do not tell them of the awful state they are in because we are frightened of being mocked. We are frightened of being scorned and reviled for the name of Jesus.

[24:52] We're ashamed of Jesus, friends, and we shouldn't be. We should be bold for the Lord Jesus Christ if he's done great things for us. Peter, my friends, he denied him.

[25:04] He said, I never knew the man. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. He didn't receive a word, you know. He didn't receive a word, didn't Peter?

[25:15] The Lord looked upon him and broke his heart. Have you ever had a look from the Lord Jesus Christ and it's broke your heart and you fell down in submission to his will?

[25:27] Have you ever been made ashamed of yourself and the Lord has looked upon you? And you've had to fall down and confess your sin before the Lord? Friends, that's the blessing.

[25:38] State of those who are children of God. They are given repentance. They are given true repentance. And it's not just something that's given, friends, when they're converted. They need repentance every day of our life.

[25:50] What is repentance this morning? It's for you to say to the Lord that you are sorry for what you have done. That's repentance. It's nothing that you will read in a magazine, friends.

[26:02] It's something like that. That's the simplicity of repentance. Lord, I am sorry for my sins that I have committed. Lord, forgive my sins and pardon my iniquity.

[26:13] And blot it out. And Lord, dip me in the blood of Jesus. And grant me, Lord, that repenting spirit, that submissive spirit. Friends, you'll pray about it and the devil will come in like a flock.

[26:24] And you'll have to go back and pray again and again and again. And friends, you'll have asked for a submissive spirit. And the next moment the devil have got you again. Go back to Jesus.

[26:35] And say, Lord, teach me. Make me submissive to thy will. Grant me repentance. Grant me, Lord, that I am thine. And friends, the Lord will grant it.

[26:46] But you're not fervent enough, you see. We're not fervent enough into the things of God. We're more too cut with the things of this world. And where we're going for our holidays in 1981.

[26:58] And what's going to happen next week in the business. I'm speaking, but I'm cutting myself. That's where I am. More bother than what's going to happen next week in regards to my business.

[27:10] And what's going to happen here? And what's going to happen there? And friends, I'm not looking to Jesus. Oh, what does the Lord say about these things? He says, your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need these things.

[27:23] The Lord has said, seek ye first the kingdom of heaven. Have you sought it? Have I sought it? Am I made a real Christian this morning? Are you? Is Jesus Christ your only hope for heaven?

[27:36] Have you followed the Lamb? Simon Peter, my friends, was no novice in the things of God when he repented.

[27:47] Friends, repentance is daily. You'll have to repent today for the sins that you've committed. Friends, you've committed sin this morning. I have. I've committed sin in my heart this morning.

[28:00] And friends, I've got a guilty conscience before God. And I've asked the Lord to blot it out. And I've asked him this morning. Because friends, I'm full of sin. I'm full of the things of the world.

[28:13] Friends, I am indeed. And the Lord has said, preach the word. Be instant in season and out of season. Friends, my concern this morning is this, and it should be.

[28:24] That you've found repentance. That you have been brought to the feet of Jesus. And my friends, what about those who live round us? Are we really witnessing for the Saviour?

[28:36] Or friends, do we tell them at times that Jesus Christ is the only hope for this troubled world? Do I tell them? Do you tell them?

[28:48] What's our conversation about most of the day? Is it about the weather? And all the stuff that's happening in the world? Friends, that doesn't matter. That's nothing.

[29:00] It's the eternal realities that we are concerned about. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Friends, this is why He was born upon this world.

[29:11] Because He was born, friends. That sinners deserving endless pain. Might His great salvation sink. And friends, Jesus turns and looks upon these people.

[29:23] And they remember the words of God. Do you know what the words of God are this morning? Except you repent, we will perish. Unless you repent this morning, you will perish.

[29:37] God is no respecter of persons, my friends. We cannot rest, friends, upon a tradition of men. The Lord takes the vile sinner and brings him unto Himself.

[29:51] And friends, it's nothing to do being brought up in the denomination. Jesus goes after the mad Gadarene and calls him to His feet. And friends, He brings him to His feet.

[30:02] And He gives him a repentant spirit. And He makes the hard adamant heart like a lamb. Friends, if your heart is hard this morning, pray to God that you will have it broken.

[30:14] Because there's nothing worse than a hard heart before the Lord. Friends, you're rebellious if you have a hard heart. And we dwell in a dry land. But Pharaoh's heart was hard and, friends, continually.

[30:25] The Lord left him to Himself. It's a most solemn thing to have a hard heart. Friends, ask the Lord to break it. Never mind your trials and your afflictions. We've all got them.

[30:37] We've all got afflictions and trials in the way. We all have a pathway to travel. The Lord Jesus Christ hasn't said it's going to be an easy way. He hasn't given us a bed of roses to travel.

[30:49] Did the Lord travel a bed of roses when He was upon this earth? He never had a moment's rest, friends. It was continually about His Father's business. And the Lord will not have us, my friends, in an easy path.

[31:02] That's nothing to do with it. The trials and afflictions don't save you. We're all immune to afflictions at times. We're all called to walk that pathway. Friends, it's nothing to do with it.

[31:14] It's the church of Jesus. Look at the afflictions those people have gone through. I've mentioned this morning in the Soviet Union. The pathway they are walking.

[31:24] But look how God is blessing them. 250 young people under 18 meeting in a forest for prayer. Yes, friends, it's true. Under 18 years of age, 250 boys and girls praying to Jesus.

[31:40] No wonder the Lord's blessing them. Because, friends, they're God's children. I'll tell you why. Think of it.

[31:51] 250 people on a Saturday evening. Not at a disco. But a prayer meeting in the forest, friends. They're following the lamb, friends.

[32:01] It would be a wonderful thing, wouldn't they? If 250 young people are at our prayer meeting on Monday night. Oh, you say it's impossible. With all the deviations in this lamb.

[32:13] It's not impossible, brethren. We bring God down to our own level. That's the reason why we're depleted. We bring God down to our own level. And say we're living in solemn times.

[32:24] We're not living in any more solemn times than Noah was living in. Than the solemn times Noah lived in. But you think of it, friends. 250 young people at a prayer meeting.

[32:36] Now that's true. Read the book. A song in Siberia. Wonderful book, friends. I've wept when I've read it. Done me more good than all the magazines I've read.

[32:49] Quicken my soul, friends. It made me fervent at the throne of grace. And I was in there asking the Lord to build. Lord, I said, do it now. I said, and Lord, bring us to thy feet.

[33:01] Each one of us that we may follow the lamb. Oh, friends. The Lord is not. The Lord knows these things. And the Lord's exercising, you see, friends. The Lord's exercising.

[33:12] He's burning us down. He's bringing us to the feet of Jesus. Oh, it did my heart good to hear that. Friends. And it said the Lord was working in all those places. With the dear young people.

[33:23] That's where the next generation's coming from. Friends, if God doesn't work with the young people in England, there's going to be no church. Think of it this morning.

[33:34] Where is the church going to come from, my friends? You can't wave a magic wand and fill this house. The Lord doesn't work with the dear young people of this town, friends. Where is the church going to come from in the next generation?

[33:47] Oh, friends. Prove me now. And see if I will not open the windows of heaven. And pour you out a blessing. And you shall not have room enough to contain it.

[33:58] Friends, we say these things. We quote these things in prayer. We say, now, now, now. But, friends. Have we proved that he has arrived? Have we seen the signs yet, no? We haven't seen them.

[34:10] We don't see the fruits, my friends. Do we? For all the other things. There's something stopping up the wells, isn't there, in all the churches. What is it? Flesh. Men and women, friends, in their own spirits, want to have the preeminence.

[34:27] That's what's stopping the wells. Them dear brothers and sisters in the Soviet Union are not like that. They bear one another's burdens, friends. They can't do enough for one another. Because they're under the iron hand of the Russian KGB.

[34:39] They don't know, my friends, that the next day will be their death. And they can say for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. You see, friends, we've searched Jesus as disciples.

[34:52] And, friends, if we're not Jesus as disciples, whose disciples are we? Friends, it's a searching sermon this morning. It's searching me, my friends. If it doesn't search you, it really is searching me.

[35:05] Because, friends, I realise God is working in the most miraculous way throughout this world. And, friends, he's calling his beloved Zion. It doesn't stop God's work going on, you know, when a chapel door closes.

[35:18] It doesn't stop God's work going on if all these chapels in England shut. It's nothing to do with it, my friends. It's God's building. And Jesus Christ, friends, is going to bring this church home to glory.

[35:31] And what a number it's going to be. Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever thought about the congregation that's going to sing in heaven, friends? And those who are already now in heaven.

[35:42] Those who died, friends, for the death of Jesus. For the faith of Jesus. You know what it has on that tombstone? All of those dear men who died for the faith of his dear master.

[35:53] Now, friends, if those times come again. And I believe they may have come to these shores before God. How will I stand?

[36:04] How will you stand? If persecution should come to these shores. And Jesus Christ should say unto you and I, He that hath an ear.

[36:15] Let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches. I wonder how many true followers of the land there would be. Now, think of it, my friends. If you recount that you don't love the Lord Jesus Christ, You are a free man in Russia.

[36:30] If you say that you deny the Lord Jesus like Judas did, You are a free man in the Soviet Union. That's what Judas Iscariot did, you know.

[36:41] He betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, he did, friends. He betrayed him. When he was brought to the test, friends, he betrayed him.

[36:53] And friends, if you betray the Lord Jesus Christ, Where do you stand? Where do I stand this morning? In the things of Jesus.

[37:05] Am I a Peter? Just look at Peter this morning, friends. He loved him. And the Lord loved Peter. Friends, he denied him.

[37:17] With oaths and curses. He said, I never knew the man. I never knew this man who called me by the Sea of Galilee. This was Jesus who had said, follow me.

[37:29] And now Peter's denying him in the hall of judgment. And friends, it was a maid that rebuked him. She said, thou art one of them, thou speakest me with thee. What did he say?

[37:39] He said, I never knew the man. I never knew him. Friends, it's solemn, isn't it? Do you know about these things this morning?

[37:50] I know not what thou says. And the cop crew. And Peter, friends, where would he have been but for this Luke? And Jesus remembered Peter.

[38:05] And he turned and looked upon him. And what did Peter do? My friends, the work of grace, friends, it's a reality. It's a living thing in your life.

[38:17] Peter went out. And he wept. Have you wept bitterly over your sins recently? Have you wept at the feet of Christ? Though you're a vile, hell-deserving sinner?

[38:29] Have you wept over your sins? Have you asked the Lord for repentance? Peter remembered the words of the Lord. And he went out and he wept very bitterly.

[38:41] Friends, this was Jesus on his way to the cross. He was going to die that awful death of shame. For millions and millions of the human race.

[38:53] Friends, how wonderful that Jesus' work is being done this morning throughout this world. Friends, it's wonderful that even that country where it's an atheistic country, there is a people who love the joyful sound.

[39:10] And they're not squabbling and falling out and backbiting, friends, or serving the Lord. Because time is short upon this earth. Well, if you knew this morning how short our time is upon this earth, you would be more steadfast.

[39:26] And I would be more steadfast. In the things of God, you would bear one another's burdens. You would love one another more. For Jesus' sake. Friends, it would show in your actions.

[39:37] It would show in my actions. We have this awful spirit which has got to be broken down. You have a hard, rebellious heart, poor sinner. And it needs breaking down at the feet of Jesus.

[39:49] And unless you have your heart broken, what evidence have you that you have been born again? Where are the fruits of the Spirit in your life? Where are the fruits of the Spirit in my life?

[40:01] Friends, it does search me this morning. If any man hath not the Spirit of God, if any man, he is none of his.

[40:13] Now think of it this morning. If any man hath not the Spirit of God, he is none of his. If I have not the Spirit of Christ within my heart, I am not a believer of Jesus.

[40:26] It doesn't matter, friends, how much I can quote of the Bible. It doesn't matter how many hymns I can quote. Won't stand, my friends, when you come to a dying pillar. The Lord has said unto you and I, examine yourselves this morning.

[40:44] Each one of us, my friends, that are in this chapel, whether we are in the faith or not, whether Jesus Christ is the one thing needed, or whether we just come and go like a door on its engines and keep the Sabbath day because it's Sunday.

[41:02] Oh, friends, it's no use letting these things fall over your back. You know, friends, a dear servant of God preached recently, and it was dear Peter Rowan. And, friends, he said, one of the most worst things that really upsets him in the pulpit is when men and women fall asleep.

[41:21] He said there's two things wrong when they go to sleep. He said either I'm not preaching the truth or they are not in the Spirit. Now think of it this morning.

[41:32] If I'm boring you to death this morning with this sermon, friends, you will fall asleep and you will say it doesn't concern me. And that's one of the things that really upsets me and it upsets me and all, friends, as well.

[41:48] There's nothing worse when people go to sleep in the services of God. Oh, there isn't, friends. There's no excuse for it. There isn't. Jesus Christ, friends, never went to sleep.

[42:00] Jesus Christ was always about his father's business. He went to save poor sinners, friends, from their sins. And you see, they've had the gospel preached unto them and they received it.

[42:15] And, friends, it bore witness with theirs, for it was the children of God. Oh, friends, do not cast Peter off if he was a child of God, you know. Peter was a child of God.

[42:26] Peter had fallen foully, friends. But Peter was restored. Peter was restored, friends. He went out and he wept bitterly. Judas Iscariot went out, friends, and hung himself.

[42:41] Peter went out and wept bitterly because he was loved with an everlasting love. Now, friends, what am I saying this morning? Ask the Lord for a repenting spirit.

[42:51] Ask the Lord for a true spirit of repentance. And ask the Lord for the fruits of the spirit. Friends, out of the heart proceed.

[43:03] You know what comes out of your heart as well as me. Murder. Oh, it does, friends. It does, friends. Covetousness.

[43:16] You'll hear someone say, friends, if someone is a godly man but is covetous. She's a godly woman but she's a backbiter. Well, she can't be the both, friends.

[43:28] There's no, the old man has got to be nailed to the tree. I am crucified with Christ. She can't be the two, friends. The works of the flesh are manifested, friends.

[43:43] And you know in your heart when those works of the flesh are predominant in your life because you have a guilty conscience before God and you have no freedom to the throne of grace.

[43:55] You people say, friends, how could such a person go and commit such a sin? Well, they don't know their own heart, friends. That's all I can say. I'm not advocating that you sin that grace may have and friends far from it.

[44:12] But people who condemn, my friends, one sin when they are living in another sin. There's no difference this morning between the sin of covetousness and the sin of adultery.

[44:25] The sin of drunkenness, the sin of theft, friends. It's sin. It's sin, my friends, that sends a man to a lost eternity because he has not repented.

[44:37] They hear the gospel, friends, but they do not obey the gospel. They come before me as my people and thou art unto them a lovely song, but they will not do those things that thou dost tell them.

[44:54] You know, his equal friends, he wouldn't like to speak that way. He said, and when this cometh to pass and it will come, he said, they shall know that there will be a prophet among them. I hope, friends, that the Lord does raise up more prophets, more servants of God that stir up the hearts of the people, friends.

[45:13] Because, friends, it's not going to be an easy task, is it, for those servants that have to preach those things. Because, friends, he defends people. And they think many times they're preaching at them, but they're not.

[45:27] They have to give the message that God has given them to preach. And, friends, if we are God's servant this morning, we have to speak what the Lord is pouring into our heart. Whether it is wonderful or whether it is bitter, friends, there's got to be both sides of the word spoken.

[45:47] And, friends, I hope that it will have an effect in all our lives that we might be brought, Lord, to say with the dear Apostle Paul who was such a rebellious, hard-hearted Pharisee before the Lord dealt with him, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

[46:06] Then, my friend, you will know what it is to walk in the fullness of the blessing of God. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? You will not look then on this man and the other man when the Lord has brought you to his feet.

[46:20] You want to serve the dear Lord Jesus who has loved you with an everlasting love. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord looked and turned on Peter and Peter remembered the word of the Lord and what did he do?

[46:35] He went out and he wept very bitterly. You see, friends, Jesus gives him true repentance and the Lord then prepared him for the 21st of John which I ought to speak of this night.

[46:48] May God have his blessing. Amen. Amen.