Acts

[0:00] To the tune Mainzer 364, hymn 113.

[0:21] Who but the soul that's led to know how just and holy is the law, will to the cross of Christ repair, and seek salvation only there.

[0:38] Jesus, my soul, is compelled to flee from all its wrath and curse to thee. Though oft through pride my stubborn will, to Sinai fills a cleaving still.

[0:52] Hymn 113. Jesus, my soul, is compelled to flee from all its wrath and curse to thee.

[1:38] O come, that you pay, the holy is the law, will to the cross of Christ repair, and seek salvation only there.

[1:52] The love of truth by thy sovereign will, to Sinai fills a cleaving still.

[2:11] Sinai fills a cleaving still. Sinai fills a cleaving still. The love of truth by the cross of Christ repair, and seek salvation only there. The love of truth by the cross of Christ repair, and seek salvation only there. Son of sin want, that you say, the love of truth by the cross of Christ obtain, that you say, the love of truth by the cross of Christraveling sin will.

[2:30] o the love of truth by the cross of Christ premises only there.

[2:51] Thank you.

[3:21] Thank you.

[3:51] Thank you. Thank you.

[4:51] Thank you. Thank you.

[5:23] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

[6:07] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

[6:17] The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 16, 16, and verses 30 and 31.

[6:28] This morning, your attention was principally directed to the first of these verses, that is, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

[6:45] It just depends, to some extent, from which we seek to be saved. Undoubtedly, taking a natural view of things, there are certainly more dangerous conditions that prevail at times than at others.

[7:06] For example, for example, if we should fall into a river, it may not be so acute in respect to our need of salvation as if we should fall into a stormy sea.

[7:21] Nevertheless, salvation in part, will be necessary in both situations. But we come to much more serious matters than what is just natural.

[7:34] But sometimes, natural things give us an indication of what the meaning is of certain words in the scripture.

[7:45] But what must I do to be saved? This is a great question. And not everybody will ever ask it. And it will be no small thing if God, by his good spirit, has raised the question by reason of the situation that prevails in your life, the alarm which is promoted in your spirit, that cause you to say, what must I do to be saved?

[8:13] I believe it is true to say that in all true spiritual experience, there will be this very acute situation in the lives of God's children where they will be surrounded with so many things which are distressing, with enemies which are so frightening, and with a prospect which is so evil that they will say, how can I be saved from these things?

[8:39] And it is certain that if God convinces us of sin, then Satan himself will soon be on our track to try and distress us and to make all sorts of suggestions that it is impossible for this and that person to be saved at all.

[8:59] And this will promote in our hearts this great question which I shall not go over in detail this evening, but just to mention, what must I do to be saved?

[9:12] So very often, it is a case of people looking at others. we may be, but doubtless we have been in that place where we have looked at others and observed their sinful ways and privately in our hearts we have said, I am glad I am not like that man, woman or child.

[9:38] But then, the time comes when it is not a question of our being on safe ground as we think, but we are not, but the time comes when we see that the sin which is in others also is in ourselves.

[9:55] And then, the instruction of the Spirit of God shows us the end that will be with the ungodly and we see the prospect of that end in ourselves.

[10:09] And in consequence, because of the alarm, and we should be aware of this, that in true experience there is alarm. And if you have not been alarmed, then, you may well raise the question as to whether God has taken you in hand.

[10:27] It is an alarming thing, but certainly an alarming experience of the children of Israel when they were by the Mount Sinai. And if you have read that account in the 19th chapter, no doubt, you will have come to the conclusion that you too would have been alarmed by the by the prevailing conditions.

[10:51] So, just to refer to it very briefly, and it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mountain and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

[11:09] This was a revelation of God's holiness, of his righteousness, and it made the people tremble. What do you think and what do I think about God? And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether end part of the mount.

[11:27] And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord ascended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount greatly.

[11:43] But things were to get worse. And in the next verse we read, And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, it waxed louder and louder. The sound of a trumpet, if it is not too powerful, well, we can put up with that, but when it waxes long, when it doesn't stop, and when it gets louder and louder, so the heart is very, very, is evident, inevitably, ready to tremble.

[12:12] And God, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. I will not go into all the details, but you can read them for yourselves, and perhaps, by the teaching and the enlightenment of the Spirit of God, you will come to the conclusion of what a dreadful thing it is to have the law set before you, for you, which represents and gives you some idea of God's holiness.

[12:38] Too many people, as it's sad to say in the present day, know very little about God's holiness, and they even are foolish enough to think that God is as one as themselves.

[12:51] But let it be clearly set forth that God is still high, he is still holy, he is still unapproachable, except it is through the medium that he himself was appointed, and that is through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[13:08] But until this great truth is revealed to any sinner, then they are in great distress, and surely the question of being saved seems to be getting farther and farther away from them, and as they might seem to be in the sad experience of being on sinking sand, and they are getting drawn lower and lower into the sand, and there is nobody to help them, because they are virtually unapproachable by ordinary means.

[13:46] And if you know the law of God in that capacity, and you seem to be sinking and sinking, but one of our hymns says, when lower and lower, I every day fell, he swept forth his power, and snatched me from hell.

[14:02] And these are the people which, even from such an extenuating circumstance, may be heard crying out, what must I do to be saved?

[14:13] Here I am, mine indeed is a hopeless case, and surely if you can imagine the situation, perhaps as there are, though some of you might have been in the real situation, of being sucked under gradually by the sand itself, the quicksands, well, who can help you?

[14:36] Who can deliver you? Now, sometimes this is a representation of the feeling of God's people when they feel that they have been sucked under by sin, sucked under.

[14:51] Now, you will not forget the occasion, occasion, or occasions when you felt sucked thunder into the earth, and so very near to death, because of the power which is above you and beyond you.

[15:09] And you will certainly be looking round and saying, sirs, what must I do to be saved? saved. The question came forth from the jader's heart, because suddenly he was given a revelation of God's power, and therefore he cried out in these words, have we been given the revelation of God's power?

[15:35] We speak about God's power to save, but what about God's power to condemn? What about God's power to judge us by his law? God's power may well be one-sided in our views of things, thinking about yes, he is able to save, but do not forget, he is able also to cast into hell.

[16:00] Now, these things, so to speak, the revelation of both sides of a matter, will cause us to call out with all fervency of spirit, what must I do to be saved, I am unholy, no, that needs no proof, and it needs no proof.

[16:21] God, by his spirit, causes people to feel that they are sinners, not just say they are sinners, not just imagine they are sinners, but they feel they're sinners, and they feel that their sin will be the end of them, and cast them eventually into the pit, and so this will bring forth into your soul, but what must I do to be saved?

[16:50] You know, if a person is in a critical condition, even in natural things, it's not in their mind to ask how this and that one is going to be saved, they are, the matter with them is so critical, that they are bound to cry out, with their sinking condition, what must I do to be saved?

[17:11] Is there anyone that will have compassion upon me? Let us remember the psalmist's words when he said, he remembered me in my lowest state for his mercy endureth forever.

[17:23] But it is important that I should proceed to the next verse, and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved.

[17:34] Now you see, in writing his epistle to the Romans, Paul says concerning this, how shall they believe unless they have heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher, and so on.

[17:51] So it is important to consider this, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved in thy house. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[18:05] As long as we can call one might our own, we have no full discharge, and therefore we shall only seek to be saved partly by our own efforts, and partly by God's efforts.

[18:20] Now, this will not do, and so God works very powerfully in the experience of people's hearts, and brings them to the point where they are at their wit's end, and then, they are going to listen to these words, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved in thy house.

[18:38] And it would not be surprising if a person even in these conditions would ask the question, who is Jesus Christ? Now, you might say, well, of course, we know who he is, we've sat under the ministry of the word from our childhood days, we know who Jesus Christ is.

[19:02] Yes, you may know him by name, but do you know him as one that is able to save? Do you know him as one that is able to look down from the height of his sanctuary and to be gracious unto you?

[19:16] Now, you're in a situation, what must I do to be saved? And it's not sufficient for you just to say, to hear these words, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

[19:29] You will remember that there is a case, the man that was born blind, that we can read about in John chapter 9, who had his eyes open, he had his eyes opened, but he had eyes, because he hadn't had any eyes before, a blind man indeed, and God worked, the Lord Jesus worked a miracle upon him.

[19:54] You may remember the great persecution that he had from the Pharisees because he acknowledged that someone had opened his eyes, he wasn't sure, he couldn't say that it was the Lord Jesus, he didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ.

[20:10] But the time came when he had been cast out of the synagogue, the Lord Jesus found him and said, dost thou believe on the Son of God? And what did he say?

[20:22] He said, who is he, Lord? Who is he? I that speak unto thee am he. And so, he said, I believed, and he worshipped God.

[20:36] And why did he believe? Because in a very real sense, though physical perhaps, yet there was also a spiritual corollary analogy with it, yet nevertheless he believed.

[20:51] He believed that Jesus Christ was much more than a man. He believed that if this man opened his eyes, that was a miracle. And if he could open his eyes in a miraculous way, he could also save him in a miraculous way.

[21:08] And what do we know about the Lord Jesus Christ? Has he performed any miracle upon you in your lives at all? And has it given you confidence to believe that he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him?

[21:26] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved and thy house. We cannot believe on anybody unless we know something about them.

[21:38] I have heard of thee, says Job, by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

[21:50] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And what do you think you're going to see when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? You're going to see that he's holy.

[22:01] And what's more, it will reflect upon your own hearts how unholy you are. And is it possible that the Lord himself will look down upon such a sinner and save him?

[22:15] Well, how good it is that we can read through the scriptures and see the glorious benefits that are all tied up in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[22:29] Now, let me come to some little detail about the Lord Jesus Christ. first of all, there are many things that are brought about by the Lord Jesus Christ which sinners don't know anything about when they're born.

[22:50] No, to think that the Lord Jesus Christ is that glorious person that was present at the eternal, the eternity meeting in eternity past, when all these things were sorted out, when God the Father chose his people and gave them to his Son to be washed in the fountain of his blood and the Holy Spirit was to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and so on.

[23:24] And therefore, all these things were in the mind of God and here we are as poor sinners and we've all been in this place and some might be there now, I do not know, where we have sat here and been unconscious that we are great sinners.

[23:38] We are unconscious and unaware that we could perish at any moment and if we did we should die without hope. But there are so many things wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[23:53] So then, as the Spirit of God opens up to us the glory of Jesus Christ, we shall be able to believe on him.

[24:03] Now, if we believe on him, it's not just a mere ascent. The Spirit of God presents to the children of God Jesus Christ in such a way that he becomes attractive and because he seems so suitable and he just fits the case.

[24:26] He is the one that is not only able but also willing to look down upon poor sinners and to deliver them from going down into the pit. So, as there is an unfolding of the truth by the Spirit of God, then the Lord Jesus Christ becomes what is here written, the Lord Jesus Christ, not just Lord, not just Jesus, not just Christ, but all the three gather together and one is necessary to the other. So then, they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So it is not surprising and perhaps even though you have sat under the ministry of the world over years, you still don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. We have heard of him by the hearing of the ear, but we do not know that he is able to say and very often when the conviction power of the Almighty comes upon you and you fear that you are a sinner. You thought you could be saved. Yes, you weren't too bad, but now suddenly the veil has been drawn back and to your astonishment you are all over as any fiend back.

[25:45] And this is of course something that you have never believed on before. Who can save me from a sinner of that caliber? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[25:56] But in the fullness of time, as doubtless you have heard many times, but have you received it in your own heart? Have you rejoiced in it, in the condescending love of the Lord Jesus that was so willing? How willing was Jesus to die that we fellow sinners might live the life they could not take away? How willing was Jesus to give?

[26:19] Now are you beginning to see just a little light on this glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus is able to save unto the uttermost.

[26:32] Christ the appointed one of the almighty God, Lord of all things. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. So in this capacity or these capacities, he is able to do everything that is necessary to the sinner that is lost and won't be ever lost unless God looked down very mercifully upon him.

[26:58] There is a word, I think it is in the Psalms, which says, and the Lord looked down from heaven from the height of his sanctuary, what for? To behold the groaning of the prisoner and to set at liberty those that were appointed to death.

[27:14] Now doubtless we can read that kind of scripture over many, many times, but perhaps one time we shall read it and that will be ourselves. Oh then, the Lord looked down from the height of his sanctuary, from heaven itself, to behold the groaning of the prisoner and deceptive liberty those that are appointed to death.

[27:34] So then, here we shall take a different view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy though he is, yet he is able and willing to save.

[27:46] He is loved with an everlasting love. You will readily come to some conclusion in this way, almost a conclusion of uncertainty.

[27:57] How is it possible that the Lord Jesus Christ can ever love my soul? It is a revelation of no small meaning when we come to understand that he is able to save.

[28:14] Yes, the violent sinner out of hell that lives to fear his need is welcome to the throne of grace, the Savior's blood to please. And so then, the Lord Jesus Christ, can you believe on him?

[28:27] You will not be able to believe on him without revelation. But if you have a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ as to who he is, who he is, and to get a little of his love down at your heart, and you will stand amazed that he could ever love you.

[28:49] And how did he, how does he express his love? He could certainly express his love in simple words. I love thee with everlasting love.

[29:01] But then, you see, there is much more to it than that. If that everlasting love is demonstrated in actual things that have been dealt with, walked in, suffered, and accomplished in Jesus' life.

[29:18] So then, blessed be God, if we might raise objections, and it is possible that Satan prompts us to raise objections.

[29:29] You are not the sinner that can be saved. You are beyond everything. But then, there is that tremendous scripture, he is able to save unto the uttermost.

[29:42] So whatever you may think, that you are a sinner beyond being saved, yet know God's uttermost will come up before you by the Spirit of God, and he has only the one word, uttermost.

[30:00] Uttermost. You can never get beyond it. So whatever your personal feelings may be, even if you think you're the worst sinner, and I cannot make you the worst sinner, God makes you feel the worst sinner.

[30:14] You will remember that the Apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, he says, of whom I am chief. Now, he is not the only one that has felt that.

[30:26] He felt it. But you know, if we feel ourselves to be the chief of sinners, then we shall not throw stones at anybody else. We shall say that no, not a person in this world can be as sinful as I am.

[30:43] And if people knew what I know myself, they wouldn't want anything to do with me. Now, do you believe that to be true? Will anyone have anything to do with you?

[30:55] And if you are concerned about your salvation, are you at your wit's end? Then we go to the parable of the good Samaritan, the priest representing the law and the Levites, they couldn't do anything.

[31:13] But there was one that could, and how blessed it is. It was one that was rejected. You will recall, no doubt, that he was a Samaritan.

[31:26] And the woman of Samaria, she couldn't understand the Lord Jesus coming to her and beginning to tell her all her past life and to give her a good hope through grace that he is able to save.

[31:41] No, a Samaritan were, the Jews and Samaritans had nothing to do with each other. And therefore, the Samaritans and the Jews were abomination. And here the Lord in his parable, he sets forth the priest and the Levite and a certain Samaritan.

[32:01] To her came where this poor man was, who was robbed and spoiled and ready and on the verge of dying, yet there came a Samaritan.

[32:14] Now, what a blessing it is if we feel what Samaritan really means in the scripture, that you're a great sinner.

[32:25] And nobody's going to have anything to do with you that has a true faith. But Jesus comes down. the men of low estate. And has he come down to you?

[32:36] And have you been amazed that he's come down to you? And have you been astonished that he's spoken to you? And have you been in trouble and yet delivered you in trouble because he did not pass you by?

[32:50] You know, dear friends, some of God's teaching will bring a sinner to such a place that he cannot expect that the Lord will never look at him. But he does.

[33:00] He does believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And some of these particular aspects of the Lord Jesus Christ, may you be able to assimilate by faith given to you this evening, that you can say, I can believe on this person.

[33:15] Or I can believe on this person because as the scriptures speak to me, as he has preached before my heart, so I get an enlarged picture, so to speak, of his glorious love and ten years of heart, that he can save me.

[33:32] But then, you see, there's more to it than just a salvation as is said before us in the dying of Christ on the cross.

[33:43] Now just think for a moment or two what went before Christ on the cross. He was a lonely man. He had to walk this path alone.

[33:55] His disciples took him and fled. He was delivered by one of them into the hands of wicked and ungodly men. And he suffered just for the unjust.

[34:08] So then, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Did he suffer for me? Did he suffer for you? You see, these are important questions.

[34:20] You know, a lot of confession is very often quite private. Is it not a good thing when we can feel the Spirit of God sitting with us and enable us to think upon these things?

[34:38] If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. These things are the love of Christ, so rich and free, fixed on his own eternally, and that he is able to reach unto the very worst of sinners who on Jesus' aid rely.

[34:56] So then, the Lord Jesus Christ, before you can believe on him, it will be necessary for the Spirit of God to set before you a little of his glorious character.

[35:08] And the words that he speaks, how clear they are, how sympathizing they are, how tender they are, how merciful they are, and your heart is warmed and you're ready to say, who can tell?

[35:23] Who can tell? This man, what a remarkable man, the eternal God, how astonishing that he should be able to save me. And how is it that we come to these kind of conclusions?

[35:39] It is because the Lord himself has given us a new nature, a nature that is capable of loving God, a nature that is capable of feeling the love of God in our souls.

[35:54] Now we read in John's epistle, we love him because he first loved us. And this will certainly be the basis of our faith in God.

[36:09] He loved us. He loved us. And therefore, we love him. If you read through the Song of Solomon, you will see various expressions there, which are truly astonishing.

[36:24] But they were a revelation of experiences that were obviously the result that of consolidation, shall I say.

[36:38] So, in the second chapter we read, the voice of my beloved. The voice of my beloved. Now would you, would you believe, because you are the voice of your beloved.

[36:52] You see, dear friends, this is the truth. And so we read of the church in the Song of Solomon, it is the voice of my beloved.

[37:03] David, behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved spake and said unto me, not somebody else.

[37:18] Now, you will not forget this evening, if it should be, that your beloved spake. And maybe you were completely surprised that the Lord would ever speak to you.

[37:30] And some of us have been in that situation. Where all hope that we shall be saved seemed to be lost. And suddenly, the Lord came in, as he did, with the Samaritan and the poor man that was robbed and spoiled by the thieves, he came in.

[37:46] And where he was, where he was, with respect to the Lord Jesus Christ, he has a greater capacity in regard to that wonderful truth than we have.

[38:00] He came where he was. He certainly did, geographically, but he came where he was in his heart. And it would be a wonderful thing. If geographically we should feel that power of his presence this evening, but then, if we should come a bit further, then come into your heart and give you the knowledge that he cares for you, that he understands the side of vine, and marks the secret groan.

[38:29] So then, my beloved, spake and said unto me, Rise, my love, my fair one, and come away. And so on. And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[38:44] Now this is a miracle. And there are many people that say, yes, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[38:56] But when it comes to it, they probably believe him, believe on him, as a wonderful character that lived at a certain period of history.

[39:09] The Apostle John draws a very important conclusion when in the fourth chapter of the first epistle, he says, beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, for they are of God.

[39:24] Because many false prophets have gone out into the world, hereby know ye the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.

[39:37] Now you see some people may say, oh, well, I believe that. I believe that he came into the world. But what did he come in the world for? Did he come into the world to save sinners?

[39:49] This was the great purpose in the Lord Jesus coming upon this earth. He came into this world to save sinners. So people, they would say that we're living at that time, oh, yes, Jesus Christ came here.

[40:06] But he was just a man. And if we care to listen to him, very well. But if we didn't, we could go away. Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.

[40:22] And this is that spirit of Antichrist whereof you have heard that it should come. And even now already is it in the world. So then every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh to save sinners, to save unto the uttermost.

[40:41] Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:55] Believe. Believe that this is Jesus, the Son of God. This is Jesus that came into this world to suffer and to bleed and to die and to rise again a conqueror and to ascend up into heaven itself and there to intercede even now for his poor and needy people as they require that intercession.

[41:22] So then the Lord, and there they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[41:35] And then there is this word, and thou shalt be saved. So, is this such a solid word that if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that we shall be saved?

[41:51] You see, there are too many things in life that project a good possibility, even perhaps a probability, but not a certainty.

[42:03] Now, the one thing that we need to be certain about is that Christ Jesus came into this world to save people, to save them from their sins, to save them from the power of Satan, to save them from going down into the pit, to save them from themselves.

[42:21] And Jesus Christ came into the world. Do you believe that this was his divine purpose in coming into the world? Not just to go about, although this was all part of his work, to open deaf ears and to open blind eyes and so on.

[42:42] But all these things mark you. All the miracles that the Lord Jesus performed when he was here upon the earth has a counterpart in spiritual things in every believer's life.

[42:55] We need to have our eyes open. We need to have our ears unstopped. We need to have our ankle bones strengthened that we may no longer be lame and be able to walk in the way of God's commandments.

[43:08] We need to have our hearts touched and open to receive the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. And you will remember perhaps that when the disciples of John came to ask Jesus whether it was he that was sent from God or did they look for another?

[43:31] The Lord Jesus made a point as he operated these various miracles while the disciples stood by and finally and the poor have the gospel preached unto them.

[43:44] Now, have we been poor? Are we poor? Have we nothing of our own? We're absolutely poor. And is it one of the great and glorious truths of the teaching and preaching of the word that believing, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when we know that what is preached, is preached to the poor?

[44:11] And the poor heard him gladly. Mary says in what we call the magnificent and the poor, and the rich he has sent empty away.

[44:27] So it is a good thing if we are poor. Poor in spirit. The word of God in the beatitude says, blessed are the poor in spirit.

[44:39] Blessed are the poor in spirit. Not a comfortable situation, but it is a situation which precedes a very comfortable situation.

[44:49] And especially if by grace we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And look to this truth. Thou shalt be saved.

[45:00] Here again, as we turn to the 14th of John, we read these words that the Lord Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[45:11] And those are the very things that you want to be ratified in your own experience if you are one of those that are saved by grace. You want to know the truth. And the power of the truth.

[45:23] And the life of the truth. And the way of truth. And in all these things, we shall find that there are so many constituents being led by the Spirit of God that we realize that we are the children of God.

[45:41] So the apostle speaks in the Roman epistle, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

[45:52] And having this truth communicated to their souls, and you see, what we believe, we believe because it has been communicated to our souls.

[46:03] It is when God says, I love thee, that we can believe it. But we cannot believe it unless God does speak. But God will surely speak.

[46:14] And if he does not speak actually in words, yet he will show you so much loving kindness, and you will see this loving kindness in one particular, in the early stages, that he has stopped you in your mad career.

[46:29] That you saw something different. And you saw something different in many respects. First of all, if we go to Pilgrim's Progress, you will find that one of the early things that the poor Christian got to feel was that he was living in the city of destruction.

[46:50] And let us be fully persuaded that we here in the world are living in the city of destruction. Everything in the world, coming from all sides and all quarters, is only intended to destroy us.

[47:05] How shall we be destroyed from the city of destruction? Well, in spirit, you see, Christian fled. And in his life, as he fled, he said, life, life, eternal life.

[47:22] Now, have you felt some agreement with money as Christian like that? You saw that all in this world was death. And you felt it.

[47:34] But life, oh, to have life, and to have faith in Jesus, which can repel all the fiery darts of hell. And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

[47:52] There is a tremendous change that takes place in the experience and heart of everyone that is born again of the Spirit. They see and they feel the whole world in a different light, and they see one that they'd never seen before.

[48:08] Can you remember? Or have you had the feeling of persuasion that you've seen the Lord? Now, I can tell you if you have. Because if you have seen the Lord, it's going to cause you to feel so humble.

[48:23] Why was I made to hear his voice? And enter Waldeer's room. While thousands make a wretched choice but rather sob than come.

[48:35] So we should remember this. that Jesus draws his chosen race. In the chapter that we read, or part of the chapter that we read together, you perhaps noticed the very first verse that I read, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

[48:59] Now, this is a tremendous truth. But who will come to come to Jesus Christ for salvation? Well, it is very clear that the natural mind is so against Jesus Christ that that's the last thing they will do.

[49:17] But if we come to Jesus Christ, and I think I mentioned it this morning, I came to Jesus as I was. Yes, and the Lord Jesus said later on in the same chapter, No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me to draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

[49:39] So then, we're at one or two points here that we might well register. No man can come to me. If we have come to the Lord Jesus Christ, then we have not come of our own volition.

[49:54] And although we have come voluntarily, but we have come before because the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, drew us to him. And we saw in him that we so satisfied our hopes, and we said, Yes, I can believe this man.

[50:13] I can believe this man. Yes, surely, he is the truth. I can believe this man because he has, first of all, spoken to me that which is negative.

[50:25] That is, he's told me that I'm a sinner. And there are ever so many people that might have said to you, Well, you're not too bad. You're not as bad as other people. But this man told me the truth.

[50:37] He told me the truth that I was a sinner. And furthermore, I needed salvation. And that salvation was absolute. It was not like other people might say, Well, you do your best and Christ will do the rest.

[50:51] No, it had to be a complete salvation. So therefore, we find that the Lord Jesus Christ makes it very, very clear.

[51:04] No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up for the last day. Well, what are you going to do now? Are you going to give up and say, Well, there we are.

[51:16] I've no chance at all. But do you need the opportunity? Do you need the time for Jesus to come and save you from your sins? Do you see that you'll perish in your sins and that you will spend an eternity and have itself in the burning fires except someone comes and saves you?

[51:37] No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. And surely, it is the purpose of the Father's gospel that you should come to Jesus Christ.

[51:47] Come as you are and he will not cast you out and if you should be at the point on your deathbed, what are you going to do? I'm still not saved.

[51:59] Well, look unto me and be saved for I am God and there is none else. Who can tell? Who can tell and how many of God's children in their extremity they've looked or they've looked and when they've looked to their astonishment they have seen Jesus looking at them.

[52:23] Now you will not forget the time when Jesus looked upon you. Just think of Peter when he had betrayed his Lord in such dreadful terms that the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.

[52:39] If the Lord had turned with a severe face, if he had got the whip in his hand, it wouldn't have melted Peter to tears but it did and it may be that when you look for hell he gave you heaven and this was such an occasion that Peter never forgot such an occasion that you will not forget and by the power of the love of God the Father you are drawn irresistibly.

[53:08] They'll say you must go to Jesus Christ but this is the person is able to save and able to deliver the poor when he cried and those that have no hope in themselves and they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house and of course as further instruction was given by the apostles to the household of this man Philippi and his jailer you see so they were further initiated in the glorious truth that was so wonderful for them to hear.

[53:57] You see they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house but they were not immediately be they were not immediately baptized and yet they were not at a distance from being baptized but it was after they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house and that that that additional sermon enlires the truth and show to them the glory of Jesus Christ he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straight way and when he had brought them into his house he said meet before them and rejoice believing in God with all his house no if or but here believing in God he could believe in no one else but by the strange and remarkable work of the spirit of God a miracle indeed he believed in God and how are we here this evening do we believe in God are we at our wit's hand are we on the verge of the pit itself and yet as one of the human says

[55:20] I look from the borders of the pit to his recovering grace so then however your situation may be and if you feel you're drawn to Jesus Christ do remember there's a good sign there's a good sign in your favor you're because you're being drawn by the father it's not your kind of decision you're being drawn by the father to Jesus Christ and you see in him as the scripture says in all you see in him all your salvation and all your desire and he brought them out and said sirs what must I do to be saved and they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house and what a day of deliverance this is oh what a day of rejoicing this is and may we if it be the Lord's will that we may all know this glorious hour when we shall be free made free through the righteousness of Christ made free by reason of the fulfilling of the law by Jesus Christ made free that ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free may the Lord be gracious to us and glorify his great name and give us grace to believe and grace to act and to honour him in all things we ask it in Jesus name

[56:51] Amen Let us close with hymn 591 to the tune pilgrim 819 hymn 591 how blessed is the man who in Jesus believes and on him can cast all his cares a righteousness full and complete he receives that hides all his guilt sin and fears hymn 591 levies to the pasture that behold his heart avni and na whoeverアーメン or landのにか das大の天あ公 гарasius and wonderful days and the martyrs

[58:30] Yet, the Opower is more happy than the Re cuis meresct.

[58:43] Thank you. The End The death he is all, the death he resorts, His glory can never depart, He comes with the hope that he will be the light,

[59:53] Till the church will keep the free heart, The death he is now fixed, When soon it let the hope, When theloeもう is masih in the shade, To trust him from his ilk at home, O most gracious and merciful Lord, we have done which thou hast commanded.

[61:08] Yet there is room, and we need thy power to make the application. O Lord, may souls go from the house of God, not only here but elsewhere, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, knowing his sympathy and his love toward them.

[61:31] And so we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. And now, may his grace, the Father's love, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit be with us now and ever.

[61:47] Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.