I want to read out of 1 Corinthians
9 beginning with verse 16 and read down through verse 23. Verse
16 through 23. For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of. For necessity is laid upon me,
yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this
thing willingly, I have a reward, but if against my will a dispensation
of the gospel is committed unto me, what is my reward then? Verily, or truly, that when I
preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without
charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. For though I be
free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that
I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as
a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under
the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under
the law. To them that are without law,
as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law
to Christ. that I might gain them that are
without law. To the weak became I as weak,
that I might gain the weak. I made all things to all men,
that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's
sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Now, in order
that I might introduce to you the writer of this portion of
the Word of God that we have read to you, I invite you to
hold, as it were, your place here. Turn back to Romans chapter
1 and look at verse 1. Romans chapter 1 and verse 1. Paul, a servant, of Jesus Christ
called to be an apostle separated under the gospel of God. Here
we have the Apostle Paul identifying himself. And beloved, we cannot
do better when we look for an example of a gospel preacher
than to look, to take a long look, a good look, at the Apostle
Paul. Now in this particular verse,
Romans 1 and verse 1, he describes himself, and in so doing, he
also describes all those men who truly preach the gospel of
redeeming grace. Paul, he says, a servant of Jesus
Christ. Now that man who truly preaches
the gospel and always preaches the gospel, the whole gospel,
and that exclusively, is indeed a servant of Jesus Christ. They're bond slaves of the Son
of God. Notice how Paul describes himself. It is not Reverend Paul, it is
not Dr. Paul, it is not Father Paul,
it is not Pope Paul, it's Paul a servant of Jesus Christ. It's Paul a bond slave of Jesus
Christ. It's Paul sold out lock, stock,
and barrel unto his master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the Apostle
Paul had a change of masters when he was on the road to Damascus,
when the Lord struck him down, and he was converted unto Christ. He had a change of masters that
day, and so now he's the servant, or the slave, of his owner that
is God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now this man counted it his highest
honor to be a servant of Christ. Not the servant, but a servant,
one among many. But he was indeed a servant of
Christ. Now the scripture here tells
us that he was called to be an apostle. Now that word essentially
means that he was a messenger of God. that it was a mouthpiece
for God, that he spoke authoritatively for God, and that when he opened
his mouth, that the Spirit of God directed him and led him
to speak that which was proper and right for the church. Now,
none hold this office today of apostle. There's none of us that
are apostles. However, we are sent of God. We are the messengers of the
Lord. The elect people of God are the
messengers of God in the generation in which they live. We're God's
mouthpiece in this world. Now, we read in the scriptures
where Jesus said, as the Father sent me, so send I you into the
world. He spoke to the church in Matthew
chapter 28 and said, go into all the world and preach the
gospel, making disciples of men, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and lo, I
am with you even to the winding up of the ages. And so we also
are commissioned, although we do not have or hold the office
of apostle. We are a man sent with a message
if we be God's people, if we belong to the Lord. We're men
that are sent of God with a word from God. Now we notice also,
as Paul identifies or describes himself and others who are the
servants of Christ, that he says that he's separated under the
gospel of God. Now he did not take the business
of being God's servant lightly. He did not take, I say, the business
of being the servant of God lightly. Separated unto God's gospel,
he was by the decree of God. As Jeremiah of old, God said
to Jeremiah, Before I formed you in the belly, I knew thee.
And before you came forth out of your mother's womb, I had
sanctified you, set you apart, and ordained you to be a prophet.
unto the nation, just as surely did the Lord decree that Paul
was to be an apostle, a messenger, one separated unto the gospel
of his son. So I say that he did not take
lightly the business of being a servant of Christ because he
was a servant by decree and he was by call. He was called to
be an apostle. That means that God spoke to
him, that God visited him, that there was a day when God came
to him, and we already mentioned it was on the road to Damascus
when God came and visited him and called him by his grace and
revealed his Son in him. And then not only was he a servant
by decree and by call, but also by gift. God gifted him. Peter said on one occasion, if
any man minister, let him minister with the ability which God gives,
that God in all things might be glorified. And so Paul was
gifted by God. He was gifted by the grace of
God. He said, I labored more abundantly
than all the other apostles, yet it was not I, but it was
the grace of God that was in me. Paul was endued with a measure
of faith and grace which enabled him to be a messenger of the
gospel of free grace across the Gentile world. And he was separated,
my friend, unto the gospel of God. Now this man, will not be
distracted from his work by pleasure or by pressure. Business nor
burdens are going to move this man from what God called him
to do. family nor friends, foes nor
finances, recreation or hazard of life, will not turn such a
man aside from the great work to which God has called him.
He is indeed separated unto the gospel of God. He is separated
under God's gospel. He knows that he's received a
mandate from the Lord. And when you hear him, and when
you hear him speak, when you hear him preach, you know that
he has received a mandate indeed from the living God. Now here
in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, And you turn back there, if you will,
at this time. We've introduced to you this
man Paul. And it is wonderful to see. And
my text primarily this morning is the last part of verse 22,
where it says that I might by all means save some. that I might
by all means save some." This is the man that preached the
gospel of necessity. This is the man that preached
the gospel willingly. This is the man that preached
the gospel and he had nothing to glory in, but he said, woe
is me if I preach not the gospel. And here's a man who adapted
himself to all sorts of people. Here's a man that if he had a
Jew to deal with, that he dealt with the Jew, and to gain the
Jew, to win the Jew, he did whatever he could, compromising no principles
of the gospel in doing it, but he was willing to accommodate
wherever he could. And when he met an individual
that lived as he were under the law, that had the conviction
that he was yet under the law of Moses, he would not flaunt
his liberty in the Lord, but he would submit himself unto
God and unto that individual in order that he might get the
gospel to this individual and bring him out from under the
burden of legalism that he might be under. And he said in verse
21, to them, that without the law is without law. It doesn't
mean that he was a rebel. It doesn't mean that he broke
the moral law of God. It does not mean that at all.
It just simply means as the Gentiles, who were not given the law, he
would live and he would do all that he could to win the Gentile
unto Christ. Being not without law to God
in the doing of it, but under law to Christ. under law to Christ. Not under THE law, but under
law to Jesus Christ. Because Christ is the rule of
life for the believer. Every believer is to be subject
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, our Master. And we're not to live
unto ourselves, but unto Him who died and rose again. Submitting
ourselves daily to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our life. He says that I might gain them,
but without law. And then in verse 22, to the
weak became I as weak. You remember that Paul was one
who was very mindful of those around him that were weak. And
he spoke of that in Romans chapter 15. He said to the weak, I became
as weak here. And then he speaks there as how
that those that know the Lord and those that are in the Lord
Jesus Christ should consider the weak. And I will just read
that verse to you at this time. Romans 15. And I think it's verse
1, We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good, to edification for even Christ. Please not himself,
but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell
on me. And Paul went on to say that
if eating meat caused my brother to be offended, I'll eat no meat
as long as the world stands, considering he has weaker brother,
you see. And so here he says, to the weak
became I as weak. In other words, I lived just
like they did. If it was wrong for them to eat meat offered
to idols, I didn't eat any. If it was wrong for them to drink
wine, I didn't drink any wine. I submitted myself unto their
weakness. And he said, I made all things
to all, men being supplied by the translators were not in the
original, that I might by all means save some. All means save
some. It's wonderful to see a man thoroughly
possessed with one passion, is it not? Wonderful to see a man
that is thoroughly possessed with one passion. Well, what
was his passion? Well, beloved, it was to be an
instrument in the salvation of lost souls. Such a man was this
Paul, and what he was, every one of us ought to be. Can you
feel that challenge in your soul this morning? One willing to
submit himself, one willing to live outside of himself for the
glory of God and the praise of Christ, serving the eternal purpose
of God in Christ. So, and though we cannot share
in his office as we mentioned earlier, not being apostles we
cannot be that. We cannot even share in his talents
or maybe in his inspiration. Yet we ought to be possessed
by the same spirit which motivated him. I ask you, what was there
in Paul by the grace of God which may not be in you? What was there,
I say, in Paul the apostle, which was not in ourselves this morning? And what had Jesus done for Paul
more than what he's done for you? Well, he saved Paul. He saved him. Now his gift, as
we said earlier, making him a servant of Christ, this was all up to
God. God's decree, God's call, God's
gift. And God also has gifted you. He's put you in the church, and
you also have been given a gift according to His sovereign will
and purpose, and you have a reason for being in the body of Christ. Well, He was divinely changed,
was He not? And you and I, if we pass from
darkness unto light, we also have been divinely changed. He had been forgiven much, and
so have we been freely pardoned, being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. justified
freely. We've all been, those of us that
know Christ, have been freely pardoned. He was redeemed by
the blood of the Son of God, and so have we. At least, beloved,
this is our perversion. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. He was filled with the Spirit
of God, and so are we to be. Romans 8 and 9, but you're not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. Now owing then your salvation
to Christ, being debtors, as we most surely are, to the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that cleansed us from all our
sins. And having been quickened by
the Divine Spirit, I ask you why there should not be the same
fruit in our lives as was in Paul's life. a dedication or
obedience to one passion and one master. Why not the same
effect from the same cause? Beloved, truly let it be our
incessant prayer as believers in Christ that we may be followers
of Him so far as He followed Christ. 1 Corinthians 4 and 16
says, Wherefore, I beseech you, be ye followers of me. And in
the 11th chapter in verse 1, be ye followers of me, even as
I also am of Christ. I ask you, my friend, this morning,
should we not all seek to follow a man like Paul, and submit ourselves
to him unto the Lord, and follow him as he followed the Lord Jesus? Well, first of all, I want to
speak to you on Paul's object in life. He tells us that it
was to save some. Now, in the religious world,
there are a great many that feel that the object of the Christian
effort should be to educate men and women, boys and girls. In
other words, we should take our time and our money, we should
spend our effort in simply educating the mind. Now, I have nothing
negative to say about education, but if the Church of God thinks
it has done its duty, if they think that they've been sent
into the world to merely train the mental faculties of men and
women, boys and girls, it has made a serious mistake. Our object is not to train men
for their secular calling. Jesus Christ did not come into
the world for this. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. This is a faithful saying
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners To preach Christ is the chief
object for which the church exists among the sons of men. Our chief
business is, the chief business of the church is salvation. Salvation. We're not ministers
of Christ if that's not the desire of our hearts. If it's not the
desire of my heart, as Paul said, he said, the desire of my heart
for all Israel is that they might be saved. that they might come
to know the Lord, that they might come to experience in Christ
what I have experienced in Him. Paul does not even say that he
tried to moralize men. He did not say my business is
to educate, he becomes moral. But to aim first at morality,
beloved, is to miss the mark as to why we're here. And if
we did succeed, and we won't, because many have tried it. They
have preached morality, left off preaching the gospel, left
off preaching anew and changed life in Christ, and they failed. They never made anybody moral
by doing it. But if we were to succeed, and
we won't, yet we would not have accomplished what God put us
in the world to do. Somebody said, he that wishes
to smell the fragrance must grow the flowers. He who would promote
morality, the point is, must have men and women, boys and
girls, saved. If you would promote morality
and right order in life, then, my friend, we must preach the
gospel that is able to bring them out of their death and translate
them out of darkness into light. If you want motion in a corpse,
You must, my friend, first put life into that corpse. If you would hope to have a rightly
ordered life, then we must have an inward renewal by the Holy
Spirit. We're not to be satisfied when
we've taught men duties toward their neighbors, or even their
duties toward God. This would suffice for Moses,
but it would not suffice for Jesus Christ. The law came by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now we're not
just to teach people what they ought to be. But far more, we
should preach to them the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit
sent down from heaven, praying that God would apply it to their
hearts, that they would become what they really ought to be,
and that is new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians
5 and 17 says, if any man be in Christ, He is a new creation. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things have become new. So we must not spend our
lives amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, or we
shall have a very sorry record to render at the last day when
we stand before the Lord. I asked you this morning to what
avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to
be damned. What good will it do him? Or
what avail is it to make a man moral if he's still on the left
hand of the judge that's sitting on the throne, and if still,
what is to hear is, Depart, ye cursed. If that is to be his
portion, what good will it be to make him moral? Blood red
with the murder of men's souls will be our hands unless the
drift The end and the aim of all of our labor has been to
save some. We must preach the gospel, settle
it, that this is the top and bottom of the business at hand.
And may our hearts be engaged in the name of Christ and by
the power of the eternal spirit unto this one object. If by any
means we may save some, the lost sheep must be brought to Christ
and delivered from the wrath to come. What did Paul mean by
saying He desired to save some. Well, I think Paul meant nothing
less than that he would that some should be born again. That some should be brought out
of spiritual death unto life. That some would be brought out
of their inability into the ability of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
some would be brought savingly to the Lord Jesus. Nobody is
saved until he's made a new creature in the Lord Jesus. The old nature
cannot be saved, it is dead and it's corrupt and it's to be crucified
and buried in the sepulcher of the Lord Jesus. There must be
a new nature implanted in us by the power of the Holy Ghost
or we cannot be saved. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, nor whether it goeth. So is every one that is born
of a spirit, except a man be born again. From above he cannot
see the kingdom of God. We must never rest till we see
a change wrought upon the life and soul of those among whom
we labor. We must see a change. They must
be made different. They must be made to know the
Lord. They must be brought out and
brought in in their experience in the grace of God. This must
be the object of our teaching. and the object of our praying,
indeed the object of our very lives, that some may experience
regeneration, that we will preach with all of our might, that we
are willing to be an instrument, knowing that regeneration is
of God, it's His work, but that He has purpose through the preaching
of the gospel to bring it to pass in men's lives. Now number
two, what else did He mean when He meant to save some? Well,
that some might be cleansed from their past iniquity through the
atoning sacrifice of the Son of God and be made righteous,
perfectly righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, my friend,
I long to be perfect. I have come so short of it in
this life. I will glory, I will glory when
I am perfect. I'll glory. No man can be saved
from sin except by the atonement. Without the shedding of blood
there is no remission. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Now, beloved, they who believe
in Jesus, who, as it were, puts their hand upon the head of Jesus
of Nazareth, the scapegoat of his people, they have lost their
sin. Lost it all. It was put on the
substitute and he carried it away. And it's been buried in
the depth of the sea. The faith of God's people is
sure evidence that their iniquities were of all laid upon the shoulders
of the great substitute. My sin upon his shoulders. His blood a ransom for my soul. And I hold, because of what Jesus
Christ has done, I hold that it's finished, that the work
is complete, that the work is done. I'm not adding to it. No
one is adding to it. What God does, none can add to
it, and none can take it away, or take away from it. Christ
was punished in my room and stayed in place, and we're no longer
obnoxious to the wrath and justice of Almighty God. Isn't that wonderful? That's wonderful. The sin atoning
sacrifice is slain, and is offered upon the altar, and the Lord
has accepted it, and is so well pleased that he's declared that
believing in Jesus is fully and eternally, those who believe
in Jesus is fully and eternally forgiven. Forgiven. And so Paul, when he said, I
would save some, he would have those whom he preached, he would
have them, that their sins would be put away. that their damning
sins would be pardoned, would be put away. Now I long to see
men and women, boys and girls in Jesus Christ. I long to see
them forgiven. I long to see their sins put
away, pardoned, forever taken away. My sins have been all taken
away. Taken away, taken away, the old
song says. Taken away. Isn't it wonderful
to know that your sins no longer upon you, but they're taken away?
Our desire is to bring the prodigal home to the Father's house. And that was Paul's desire. Paul's
desire was to bring the wandering sheep to the good shepherd's
shoulder. It was to bring the lost coin
and put it into the owner's hand. And until this is done, nothing
is done. I mean nothing spiritually, nothing
eternally, nothing that is worthy of the travail and the agony
of the Savior's soul that was poured out unto death. Nothing is done until there's
a work that moves all heaven to rejoice over a sinner that
repents. Dear ones, I have through the
years shown you repeatedly that no one is ever saved in this
gospel age apart from or without the sovereign election of God
the Father. without the special effectual
redemption of God the Son and the irresistible call of God
the Holy Spirit. We have rejoiced to say with
that inspired psalmist in Psalm 65 and verse 4, Blessed is the
man whom thou choosest and callsest to approach unto thee. Now further
I have also shown you that in this gospel age that men are
saved through the preaching of the gospel. I have told you that
I believe that the Word of God teaches that God uses means in
the salvation of a sinner. Now I know there are those, and
some of them are very good men, who would differ with me on this
particular point. But I believe that the Word of
God teaches that God uses means. And what I'm talking about, when
I'm talking about you and I following the example of the Apostle Paul,
in order that we might also save some, I'm saying that God uses
means in the salvation of sinners. The issue is not whether or not
God can save His people without the use of means. That is not
the issue. The issue is whether He will
or not. Whether or not He will. And the
answer to that is no. Because we know that He has revealed
in His Word, in the Holy Scriptures, Romans 10 and 17, that faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by God's word. It pleased God to save
the elect by the foolishness of gospel preaching. 1 Corinthians
1 and 21. James 1 and 18, of His own will
begat He us with the word of truth. God uses His Word in the
salvation of a sinner. Don't be afraid to go out here
and talk to men and women about the Word of God. And don't stand
back and say, God's sovereign and He'll save whom He will,
when He will, and I'll not get involved. No, my friend, you
take the Word of God, be obedient to the Lord as Paul was, and
become an instrument in the hands of God that you might save some. 1 Peter 1 23-25 says, Being born
again, not a corruptible seed, but by incorruptible, by the
word of God which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh
is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass,
and the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.
But the word of the Lord endueth forever, and this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. And so my friend, God
uses this incorruptible seed of the Word of God to save sinners. So preach the Gospel. Spread
the Gospel. Beloved those who teach that
God saves sinners apart from the preaching of the Gospel,
I want to say they fly in the face. of Holy Scripture. The preaching of the gospel is
God's chosen ordained means of grace by which he calls chosen
redeemed sinners to life and faith in Christ by the irresistible
power and grace of his Holy Spirit. John Gill describes the value
and the utility of gospel preaching in this way. He said Christ stands
in the gospel ministry at the door of men's hearts. and knocks
and calls. Having the key of the house of
David, he's able to open and no man can close. He's able to
close and no man can open. He opens the heart of his elect
by the power of his grace and lets himself in. He does not
stand there pleading with the sinner, open the door. The Lord,
He Himself has the key of David and He can open the hearts. And
He does open the heart. Man says, I think I opened my
heart to the Lord. Well my friend, when you get
the further away from it you get, you will find out He opened
your heart. That it was His work from the
beginning to the end. That God used a means. Somebody
preached the gospel to you. Somebody told you what a sinner
you were. Somebody told you where you stood
and how you was as a wiggling maggot before God Almighty. God spoke to your heart and brought
you out of your sin and rebellion. But my friend, it would have
never happened. unless the key would have been
in His hand. If the key is in your hand, you're in trouble.
The key is not in your hand. God will have His people. Now
in this way and by this means, the Spirit of His grace, the
Spirit and His grace are received into the heart. I say to you
that men are called both to grace and glory by the gospel as a
means. Obviously, at least it's obvious
to me, and it's obvious I think to anyone whose brain has not
been pickled by the vinegar of free will religion, that the
call we speak of is not the outward, external, general call of the
gospel, but the internal, the effectual, and the irresistible
call of God's grace. call of God the Holy Spirit by
which we have been separated and distinguished from all other
people from the beginning of time before eternity. Except
the Father draw us, we will not come. No man can come except
the Spirit of God draw him. Now, in the book of Isaiah, and
I'm going to hurry here to a conclusion. In Isaiah chapter 43, if you
want to turn back there with me, I just want to read a verse,
make a suggestion or two to you to finish up our message here
this morning. Let me read verse 5 and 6. Fear not, the prophet said, for
I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone
that is called by my name. I'm going to add this verse,
for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea,
I have made him. Might I add, verse 8, bring forth
the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. What a description we have here
of the Lord's people. The blind people that have eyes
and the deaf that have ears. Have you not ever looked at yourself
in that light? My friend, God says to the blind, He says, See! And He says to the deaf, Hear!
How's a blind man going to see? And how's a deaf man going to
hear? They will hear when God gives them sight. They will see
when God gives them sight. They'll hear when God gives them
hearing. He that made both the eye and
the ear must give them both sight and hearing. Well, just a word
here and we'll finish. I believe this is God's commandment
to His church here in Isaiah. And I can see this is very clearly
one of the reasons why God left us in this world to obey this
command. to obey this command. And I want
to press this on you. I've been talking about being
an instrument. I've been talking about God using
means. Let me press this upon you. Bring
my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth. That
is the commandment of God. We're to be fishers of men. We're to be on the trail of God's
sheep in this world. And one of the purposes of the
ministry of every local church is the gathering, the gathering
from the East and the West and the North and the South, those
sinners that have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ
for the glory of His name into the fold, into that flock, that
one fold of our Lord Jesus. We preach to everyone who will
give us a hearing. That should be our motto. We
preach to everyone that will give us a hearing. Tell everyone
we can about Christ, His glorious accomplishments on the behalf
of sinners. Tell it. Tell it abroad. Tell
it out. Tell it out. We're to catch the
gospel net into the waters. where we are, and gather in all
the feasts we can. We need not fear getting some
of the non-elect into the kingdom. God will take care of that. He'll
sort it all out. Any who come into the wedding
without a wedding garment on will be detected and will be
expelled by Him who never makes a mistake. You go picking and
saying, well, I don't think so-and-so is saved. Well, my friend, we're
not to judge that. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. You say, well, I don't think
we ought to baptize this individual or that individual. I don't know
whether they're saved or not. My friend, if you feel that they've
been led of God to make a confession of Jesus Christ, then you ought
to baptize them. The Bible says, let the tares
grow with the wheat. And in the end, the Lord will
take care of doing the separating. Not our business, not my business
to be a separator of men. Nothing in this dark world so
inspires evangelism and missionary zeal as the assurance that God
has given that He will save His people. He will save His people. Thou shalt call His name Jesus
for He shall, not try to, He shall save His people from their
sins. He will accomplish His purpose
of grace. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. He will accomplish His purpose. And so armed with this assurance
of success, let every ransomed sinner seek the salvation of
God's sons and daughters. I say, let the redeemed of the
Lord say so. I read a story that I want to
share with you in closing. J.C. Massey told of a friend
who traveled a great distance for an interview with a very
distinguished scholar. When the man arrived, he received
a very cordial reception, and before being seated, he said
to his host, Doctor, I notice that the walls of your study
are lined with books from the ceiling to the floor. No doubt
you have read them all. I know that you have written
many books yourself. You have traveled extensively,
and doubtless you've had the privilege of conversing with
some of the world's wisest men. It's leaders of thought, and
it's creators of opinion, and I have come a long way to ask
you just one question. Tell me, of all you've learned,
what is the one thing most worth knowing? Putting his hand on
the guest's shoulder, the old scholar replied with emotion
in his voice, My dear sir, of all the things I have learned,
only two are really worth knowing. The first is that I'm a great
sinner, and the second is that Jesus Christ is a great Savior. That's a wonderful testimony,
my friend. You don't learn those things somebody trying to teach
you how to handle life in the fast lane out here in this world.
You will learn that hearing of the gospel of the grace of God.
And I trust this morning, if there be a poor sinner here,
that you will find refuge, seek refuge in the five bleeding wounds
received on Calvary. Eternal life is in the Nail-scarred
hands of the man in glory. If you would have it, you get
it from him. You receive it from him as a free gift. as a free gift. Father, in the
name of Jesus, own the message, bless the message of thy word,
bless thy word. And may it be, our Father, this
morning that some sinner has received hope in their soul by
the listening to your precious word. And I pray that the saints
have been revived and encouraged and that they will go out and
become means, our Father, in your hands to the salvation of
some. We pray for Jesus' sake, in His
name, Amen.