Said Peter This voice we heard Which came
from heaven when we were with him in
the holy mount But that which then was
so utterly unmeaningful Only in the light of
the more sure word of prophecy Became charged
with divine Significance Peter was converted
Do you remember how the Lord Jesus Luke
22 32 Said something to Peter that must
have been at that time somewhat bewildering to
him said he I prayed for you Peter
and When you're converted Strengthen the brethren That
Must have come as quite a shock To
Peter when you are converted Long since he
had considered himself to be one of the
most devoted of the devotees of the Lord
Jesus surely Anna a Disciple a name to
be an apostle when the art converted Strengthen
the brethren and And then immediately you remember
when the Lord Jesus warned his disciples when
the shepherd is smitten you like frightened sheep
will scatter and Somewhat to justify his affirmation
that he was a True disciple of Jesus
Christ immediately Peter said that all men forsake
you I Will never forsake If needs be
I go to jail or die for you
But the Lord Jesus wasn't all that impressed
He didn't challenge Peter's sincerity his sentimental attachment
his sincere affection His zeal or enthusiasm But
He knew Peter's heart a man who stilled
him then didn't want the cross Nor believe
in the resurrection He said Peter before the
cock crows twice You will have denied me
three times And of course Peter was that
much more indignant But there came in a
servant girl you're one of his and He
denied him within touching distance three times until
to add color to his denial with Curses
and oaths like the Galilean fisherman.
He had been he said I know not
this man And the cock The Lord Jesus
never said a word he just looked straight
into Peter's eyes and He fled Weeping bitterly
It's a wonderful thing in your life When
the cock crows For you see Peter then
graduated out of despair out of the bitterness
of self-discovery at last he was recognizing
the bankruptcy of his soul And you see
when the cock crows it heralds the dawn
Of a new day and From that time
on you see the Sun began to rise
I Think this is what Peter had in
mind When he said this voice which came
from heaven we heard when we were with
him in the Holy Mount we have also
a more sure word of prophecy one unto
you do well that you take heed as
Unto a light that shineth in a dark
place until the day And the day star
rise in your hearts He said it was
only in the light of this more sure
word of prophecy that finally I discovered the
need of all that God had Purpose to
accomplish in his own incarnate son who had
laid down his sinless life that reconciling act
That would restore peace between a guilty sinner
and a holy God and make it possible
for him without doing violence to his own
Righteousness to restore to him all that was
lost in Adam in the day that he
fell which was the day that man died
the Sun rose In My life when I
realized the need for what he did Because
of what I've done and who he is
to take the place Of what I am
Not redeemed with corruptible things of silver and
gold But with the precious blood of God's
dear son as of a lamb without blemish
not drifting to disaster but verily for ordained
before ever the world was being born again
by his resurrection from the dead as He
laying down that life that he alone of
all men possessed on earth since Adam fell
that life Restored to him might now by
him in us be restored to those who
are numbered amongst the redeemed who pled Cleansing
through his blood and now become the recipients
of his divine indwelling by the gift to
them of his Holy Spirit Peter's converted Say
where did he get his new Bible?
The more sure word of prophecy that now
had come alive and Given him that divine
revelation that made So significant to him all
that then had been So unmeaningful as our
Lord Jesus as we discussed last evening together
with Moses and Elijah Talked of that Decease
that he would accomplish a Jerusalem.
Where do you get the new Bible?
Turn with me for a moment to the
gospel of Luke the last chapter 24 You
remember what the Lord Jesus said To Peter
James and John as they came down from
the Mount of Transfiguration 9th verse 17th chapter
of Matthew You'll remember said he to them
not a word of the things that you've
seen or heard there in the mountain not
a word Until the Son of Man is
Risen from the dead It was the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus that Transformed the lives
of Peter James John all the others named
to be apostles and those who on that
Fantastic day Entered into the good of that
for which the Lord Jesus had died Becoming
the recipients as God's gift to them of
his resurrection life When the two disciples who
had encountered the Lord Jesus on the road
to Emmaus came bursting into the upper room
Who had ridiculed the women because they said
that Jesus was alive.
I don't tail said thee said they to
them And Explained how he had Become recognizable
to them as they sat around their table
he their guest playing the role of host
two pairs of eyes watching one pair of
hands and they saw the print of the
nails and they knew him and suddenly disappeared
out of their sight and they came Told
what things were done in the way verse
35 at that Luke's gospel 24 How the
Lord Jesus was known to them in the
breaking of bread and as they thus speak
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them
and said peace beyond here But they shrieked
in terror Frightened suppose that they'd seen a
spirit rather than believe that the women were
right or the testimony Corroborated by the two
who encountered him on the road to Emmaus.
They'd rather believe that he was a ghost
But Said the Lord Jesus to them why
you troubled why do thoughts arise in your
hearts?
Didn't you hear what these two told you
about my hands have a look in my
hand and For good measure have a look
at my feet Behold my hands and my
feet that it is I myself I am
I Handle me and see touch me You'll
find I'm pretty substantial for a ghost Touch
me Come on Peter touch me.
Come on.
Come on touch me Don't think Peter was
all that enthusiastic He was sort of going
green around the years have you ever touched
a ghost I Imagine I imagine the Lord
Jesus turned away from Peter and said John
come on Peter scared you touch me.
Come on Yes, one more step and you're
there.
Come on.
Come on And he touched him and he
was real He was real and flung his
arms around his neck And when they all
saw that he was real they too came
and gathered around him.
We're told they could hardly believe for joy
That's what you are Now you might think
I'm making that up Well, I may be
reading a little bit between the lines, but
I think I'm right Keep the place then
Luke 24 and just look for a moment
at the first chapter first epistle first verse
of John 1 John chapter 1 and verse
1 We know of whom John here writes
because he thus begins the gospel in the
beginning was the word the word was with
God was God by him all things were
made without him was not anything made that
was made in him was life that life
Which is the light of men?
That which gives to man the moral competence
to shine to reflect the glory to discharge
that office Which man was made so that
all creation looking at man would know what
God was like That which was from the
beginning says John he in the first verse
of his first epistle of The word of
life our Lord Jesus Whom said he we've
heard Seen with our eyes looked upon and
our hands have handled What does he mean?
Well, he's he's thinking back to that moment
in the upper room and the Lord Jesus
Scared them stiff as he risen from the
dead appeared and he said handle me touch
me.
He said we touched him We touched him
But the life was manifested verse 2 the
life was manifested he whom we thought was
dead and buried We buried him the life
was manifested.
We've seen it.
We bear witness We show unto you that
eternal life who was with the father was
manifested to us that which we have seen
and heard declare We unto you that you
also may have Fellowship with us and truly
our fellowship is with the father and with
his son Jesus Christ and says John 4th
verse this first chapter These things right we
unto you that your joy may be full
We want you to have the same full
-blooded joy that became ours in the day
that we touched him Peter put it later
in the first chapter of his first epistle
joy unspeakable and Full-of-glory a joy
that was ours then that could never be
described in any known vocabulary unspeakable He'd begun
to enter into this superlative of Christian life
I thought the Lord Jesus meant when he
said I'm come that you might have life
that quality of life That is in an
entirely new dimension Life more abundant so that
you can reign in life by one Christ
Jesus and be more than conquerors Your joy
Was the first consequence that was theirs in
their rediscovery of the Lord Jesus in the
power of his resurrection, but what else Back
in the Luke chapter 24 and The 44th
verse said the Lord Jesus to them These
are the words which I speak unto you
while I was yet with you that all
things must be fulfilled Which were written in
the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me Then opened
he their understanding That they might understand the
scriptures nothing wrong with the scriptures Never has
been never will be there had been then
something as still today wrong With our understanding
But our risen Lord Jesus opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures It said
unto them thus it is written and thus
it behove Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day But I
came into this world born according to the
scriptures I lived and died and rose again
and I ascended to be with my father
according to the scriptures and As we've discussed
already the Lord Jesus Opening their understanding So
enlightened them that at last they could see
that he didn't drift to disaster that he
was born dead on schedule that he lived
that sinless life so that he could die
dead on schedule and Accomplish the redemptive act
that would precipitate that regenerated purpose that would
restore to man the lab the life that
was lost in Adam a new Bible And
once they saw that the Lord Jesus the
Living Word was the Substance of the shadow
the written word then both the Bible and
Jesus began to make sense in an entirely
new way And their hearts to began to
burn within them as did those of the
two disciples who met him on the road
to Emmaus You see there were two mistakes
that were being made at the time of
our Lord Jesus being here on earth one
by the theologians and the other by the
disciples and And In point of fact they
there were same mistake, but in reverse you
see the theologians detached the written word from
the living word The Lord Jesus rebuked them
those who prided themselves on their biblical scholarship
He said you search the scriptures in them
you think you have eternal life, but they
are they that testify of me John 5
39 But said he you will not come
to me that you might have life That
which I alone can give and if you
study the Bible without coming to the one
of whom the Bible testifies Then you've got
a dead Bible.
It can't possibly make sense Study the Bible
without that divine revelation that only he can
give who authored the book and who delights
to take the things that are Christ's and
reveal them unto us study the Bible without
that revelation All you can do is deduce
from the scriptures that you study without divine
illumination deduce your own theological and philosophical Propositions
and finally you'll turn them into a systematic
theology on on the base of that systematic
theology that comprises the theological propositions of Those
who study a Bible without revelation you'll produce
what you'll call quotes a system called Church
And Then in the course of time you'll
vest in that church the authority to decide
what is truth and error it'll become the
final authority of faith and practice a System
organized on the basis of a Bible studied
without divine revelation man-made philosophy man-made
theological propositions and then one day The world
hears a baby cry the biggest thing God
ever did and Jesus Christ is born the
way the truth and the life The truth
about the way how to become a Christian
he died the truth about the life How
to be a Christian the one who rose
again to share his life with us live
that life in us and live that life
through the truth Eternal Unchanging the same yesterday
today and forever and the truth walks by
But the truth as it is in our
Lord Jesus Christ is incompatible to the then
church that apostate form of Christianity And when
the truth walked by incompatible to the church
the church did then what the church does
now perpetuates the church And crucifies the truth
that Was the first mistake being made by
those who detached the written word from the
living word so they had a Bible that
didn't make Sense so he came unto his
own and his own received him not he
was unrecognizable But the mistake you see that
was being made by the disciples were that
they detached the living word their Lord Jesus
for whom they had an immense amount of
personal affection and in Whose service with no
little loyalty and enthusiasm they Got involved they
detached him as the living word from the
written word So the justice of the theologians
the Bible didn't make sense because they detached
the Bible from the living Christ The living
word so you see to the disciples Jesus
Christ didn't make sense because they detached him
from that Revelation that God had given of
why he had come that's why they didn't
want the cross And that's why they didn't
believe in the resurrection So you see the
Lord Jesus was always doing the wrong thing
and saying the wrong thing When finally as
foreshadowed in the prophecy of Zechariah the Lord
Jesus ended in the city of Jerusalem on
the back of a donkey and the crowds
were Outstrewing his pathway with palm branches and
shouting hosanna to the highest The disciples really
got excited the movements off the ground.
This is the day we've been waiting for
fantastic But then probably Peter nudged John said
I hope he doesn't spoil it John probably
said he will he always does And in
Chased the money changes out of the house
of God upset their tables got rid of
the animals and said you've turned my father's
house into a den of thieves And Insulting
groups of disciples outside said he's done it
again.
He's torpedoed the whole thing.
This can only end in disaster and To
them it did But now you see he's
opened their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures Thus it is written and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer to rise from the
dead the third day that repentance and remission
of sins might be preached in his name
among all nations Added to their new joy
a new Bible that made sense added now
to their new Bible a new message Not
just the repentance that they had preached as
recorded for us when Jesus sent them out
two by two Including Judas Iscariot in Mark
chapter 6 not just that men should repent
bad people be good naughty people Be sorry
for their sins said Lord Jesus now you
can tell people who are sorry that they
can be saved You can go out and
preach repentance and forgiveness new joy new Bible
new message and said the Lord Jesus your
witnesses of These things I'm going to remove
the prohibition.
I'm going to lift the band for these
were those to whom the Lord Jesus Had
pronounced that total prohibition Matthew 16 Matthew 17
that they should tell nobody that he Jesus
was the Christ now He said you're going
to be my witness Because now you come
to see the intelligent purpose which my father
sent me incarnate to lay down my life
a ransom for many now finally Recognizing that
I am alive again.
You've touched me.
You're convinced to the truth Before too long
you're going to enter into the good of
it And it won't be long to before
you demonstrate the fact of it preach in
the power of it and live in the
joy of it Life for you is never
ever going to be the same again They
rediscovered you see the Lord Jesus in the
power of his resurrection And behold said the
Lord Jesus I Send the promise of my
father upon The tarry in the city of
Jerusalem until you be endued with power from
on high Though I'm releasing you from the
prohibition though now I'm going to send you
out to the outermost ends of the earth
do not embark upon your new Responsibility until
you have received the new enabling for added
you see to the new Joy, the new
Bible the new message the new responsibility was
to be the new enabling powerful and high
Not an impersonal power But also to know
here all of us know here tonight somebody
who would come to seal that redemptive Transaction
in the gift to the redeemed sinner of
the life of Jesus Christ by the presence
of his Holy Spirit through whom once the
father Had lived in and through the son
and through whom now the Lord Jesus risen
from the dead was to come and live
in and through They judicially executed in the
person of another So That reckoning themselves to
be dead and to that Adamic principle of
self-sufficiency they might now reckon themselves to
be alive unto God through Jesus Christ Recognize
that the father would know only one who
had the right to live in and through
them Clothing himself on earth with that new
body to which they as individual members in
particular would be added To his new body
corporate He the head and they subject to
his supreme and unchallengeable jurisdiction This was the
revelation that came to them somebody in Somebody
the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit clothing
himself on earth with their humanity Peter was
converted Recognize the need for the shed blood
of the Lord Jesus is of a land
without blemish and recognized that he can only
be empowered from on high in the measure
in which he shared that Resurrection with the
Lord Jesus receiving that life the father restored
to the son restored now by the son
to him What is it really that Peter
came to understand?
That the Lord Jesus miraculously conceived of the
Holy Spirit had to come as he came
to be what he was In The sinlessness
of that humanity in which at all times
there was seen the perfection of deity So
he had to come as he came Not
born as you and I were born uninhabited
by God inhabited only by sin he born
uninhabited by sin Inhabited only by God So
that he could turn to his disciples and
say the prince of this world is come
but he hath nothing in me From the
moment of conception Jesus being full of the
Holy Ghost and that doesn't mean that he
had some ecstatic experience and simply meant that
he settled though God for the role of
man though the Creator he was prepared to
play the role of creature and He knew
that he is God and so created man
that the presence of the Creator within the
creatures indispensable to his humanity He knew that
man Could only be recognized as distinguished from
the animal kingdom by quality of life that
would have no possible explanation But God himself
and so humbled himself emptied himself made himself
nothing All that he knew was God a
man to be without God So the father
could be the sole author of everything he
did and said and was without my father.
I can do nothing He that has seen
me Seen him that sent me Peter discovered
he had to come as he came to
be what he was in the sinlessness of
his humanity But he recognized now that he
had to be what he was so that
he could do what he did redeem For
he alone Was that one man on earth?
Who was born both physically and spiritually alive
and therefore the only one who could suffer
that death that had already been incurred in
Adam When he fell Redeemed not with corruptible
things or what money can buy But with
the precious precious precious blood of God's dear
son.
He's discovered the need for the redemptive act
He had to come as he came to
be what he was to do what he
did But Peters discovered something more than that.
He had to do what he did so
that he might have what is his So
That claiming that which he had created on
the grounds of redemption The father might present
to him every boy girl man or woman
who in true repentance toward God Recognizing their
guilt would turn in simple childlike faith to
Christ and embrace his grace God's riches at
Christ's expense Paying a bill a debt.
He did not owe because we owed a
debt We could not pay Not that we
might get out of hell in the heaven
though, that's gloriously true and I'm glad But
so that he might come once more out
of heaven into men Had to come as
he came to be what he was had
to be what he was to do what
he did He had to do what he
did so that he could have what is
his So that on the day of Pentecost
He might reinvade the humanity of forgiven sinners
and they be endued with that power from
on high which is somebody in somebody Christ
In you your only hope of glory But
of course the marvelous thing is this that
when?
Doing what he did so that he might
have what is his the moment he has
what is his we have Who he is?
That's it We're restored to that relationship we
in him and he and us as once
he was in the father and the father
in the son So we had to come
as he came to be what he was
to do what he did so that he
might have what is His and we have
all that he is Magnificently furnished by his
divine indwelling unto all good works So that
we can step out into the dawn of
every new day in the measure which we're
prepared to Present our humanity to his divine
indwelling and know that that day is going
to be as big as God so long
as we have Entered into what he describes.
Do you remember that in the first chapter
of his first epistle like precious faith?
That disposition on the part of man that
recognizes the indispensability of his creative There without
faith.
It's impossible to please God because whatsoever is
not a faith that doesn't derive that which
doesn't derive from the Activity that we invoke
of Divine origin by a disposition that says
I cannot you never said I could but
you can and always said you would Whatsoever
is not a faith is sin.
It simply perpetuates the satanic creed of human
self-sufficiency Peter had learned you see that
Apart from our faith in the Lord Jesus
that invokes his divine activity.
He won't do What we can't do But
he recognizes also now That without Christ he
can't do what Christ won't do There it
is in all its sublime simplicity Apart from
our faith in the Lord Jesus.
He won't do what we can't do and
apart from Jesus Christ.
We can't do what he won't do So,
how do you end up?
dead last And peter had found that out
in the bitterness of despair when the cock
crew The futility of trying to live a
life then that he never had But now
he realizes redeemed in the blood of Jesus
born again by his resurrection He's a man
on earth invaded again by his creator.
God.
He never ever more than man And the
Lord Jesus never ever less than God Isn't
that amazing of our Lord Jesus as I
have already reminded you he never ever less
than God came into this world Insisted that
for 33 years He should behave as though
he were never ever ever more than man
didn't have to do that He could have
stayed in heaven and let us perish man
In his arrogant conceit and pride struts across
this planet and though he's never ever more
than man behaves as though he were never
ever less than God That's the difference But
true repentance recognizes my office as man that
to be and the office of God his
to act Then the world no longer sees
what i'm trying to do for him the
world at last sees only what he can
do through me That's the great discovery of
the risen christ Had to come as he
came to be what he was to do
what he did so he might have what
is his and we have All that is
he is So that we might be what
he was Living the power of his divine
indwelling the christian life the life that he
lived then lived now by him in you
and me As the supreme privilege of placing
ourselves at his disposal On numerous occasions it
was my great joy and I was reminded
of this by somebody from that particular church
congregation to minister christ in oakwood baptist church
in toronto One of the men who attended
those meetings in those days who I believe
now lives in london Geddes broadhurst.
He gave me a piece of paper Hmm
and my heart nearly always sinks when somebody
comes with a determined look on their face
in my direction with a piece of paper
In their hands because it's nearly always poetry
And most of it's awful Like the man
who said do you think there's enough fire
in my poetry and his friend said I
don't know But I don't think there's enough
of your poetry in the fire and that
was a little Unkind Hmm But this was
among the few that are good This is
what he said when jesus died for me
on calvary.
He paid the penalty for all my sin.
He suffered all the pain My simple heart
to gain And now his spirit Witnesses within
I'm, just a suit of clothes that jesus
wears My body is the house in which
he lives.
My voice is his to talk.
My feet are his to walk I'm, just
a suit of clothes that jesus wears He
rose again to bring abundant life to justify
before his father's face.
I lived no more, but he lives out
his life through me I'm, just a vessel
fashioned By his grace As life goes on
I fear not come what may he carries
all my burdens and my cares for me
the battle's done For he's the victory one
I'm, just a suit of clothes that jesus
wears This was the sublime discovery that peter
made That his was not To plumb the
depths of the infinite potential of a human
being until he equates his creator But in
all humility to recognize that apart from the
god who made him he is nothing has
nothing can do nothing And allow the illimitable
resources of deity to be released through his
humanity on earth To the timeless benediction of
his fellow man In other words peter discovered
that the christian life doesn't derive from carnal
sweat a man no matter how nobly trying
as he did Only to fail And to
hear the cock crow Not carnal sweat but
divine unction Do you like just to turn
to the 16th chapter for a moment Of
the book of leviticus Leviticus and chapter 16
This is what makes the bible so exciting
to me Just have a look at it
The lord said to moses speak unto erin
thy brother that he come not at all
times into the holy place within the veil
before The mercy seat which is upon the
ark that he die not on pain of
death.
I will appear in the cloud upon the
mercy seat he shall Verse four Put on
the holy linen coat.
He shall have the linen breeches upon his
flesh He shall be girded with the linen
girdle and with the linen mitre shall he
be attired.
These are holy garments Holy garment has that
ever had any particular significance to you A
linen breeches a linen girdle linen mitre holy
garments I'll remember the best commentary on the
bible is the bible throws an immense amount
of light on most commentaries ezekiel chapter 44
Look at ezekiel in chapter 44 and you'll
see the commentary Speaking of the priesthood verse
16 of the 44th chapter of ezekiel They
shall enter into my sanctuary and they shall
come near to my table to minister unto
me and they shall keep my charge And
it shall come to pass that when they
enter in at the gates of the inner
court, they shall be clothed with linen garments
Verse 18.
They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads
and they shall have linen breeches upon their
loins linen Middle of verse 17 no wool
shall come upon them Whilst they minister in
the gates of the inner court and within
only linen and never wool why not End
of verse 18 they shall not gird themselves
with anything that causeth sweat.
Isn't that great?
God cannot tolerate sweat People who come, you
know sweating it out into his presence mopping
their brows as though they had been keeping
god in business He can't tolerate it He
doesn't need your sweat Only that divine unction
that flowing river from the innermost being That
derives from the endless source in jesus christ
himself whose life we share Verse 23 they
shall teach my people the difference between the
holy and the profane They'll cause them to
discern between the unclean and the clean that
which derives from noble human endeavor, but is
Nothing, but the wood the hay and the
stubble of a wasted life but that which
otherwise derives from the person of my dear
son enthroned within the heart of those who
know their own wickedness and Recognize his lordship
as the redeemer who's cleansed them from their
sin reconciled them to god so that he
might invade afresh their humanity No sweat You
know as a young man once I went
to a voice trainer Once She didn't really
think it was worth her while that I
should go more than once I think it
was a she She was very masculine You
know buxom Hmm Almost frightening And before i'd
even crossed over the threshold into her studio
she barked at me She said expire I
said expire i'm too young You know, I
thought that was funny she didn't So I
expired She said that isn't way that expire.
This is the way to expire man.
Did she expire?
And she was about she was about half
the science by the time she'd expired then
she barked at me again.
She said inspire So I inspired And she
said that isn't a way to inspire before
she inspired she expired And when she'd expired
man, did she inspire?
She sucked so hard the pictures came off
the wall I You know the grand piano
began to move across I thought she was
gonna I thought she was gonna swallow it
And then she said this it was the
most famous marvelous sermon i've ever heard She
said you'll never ever ever learn to inspire
till first you have learned to expire You'll
only perspire Now wasn't that good?
Now that's the whole christian life in a
nutshell Hmm Until you've learned to expire.
You'll never learn to inspire.
You'll only perspire carnal sweat But you'll never
know the joy of divine unction I am
crucified with christ Expire it's all i'm fit
for Obviously in my present condition apart from
who he is who created me to be
inhabited by my creator I am nothing have
nothing can do nothing and because of that
alien agency that has invaded my soul that
perpetrates the adamic creed of human self-sufficiency
That violates the sovereignty of an almighty god
that clenches its fist hostile to his demands
Refuses to be bossed around not subject to
his law.
Neither indeed can be i'm I'm fit for
nothing more nor less than what happened to
the one who took my place sentenced executed
and buried I'm crucified with christ Nevertheless,
I live it not I not I but
please don't get me wrong Not only have
I expired i've inspired on the grounds of
that redemptive act where I was identified with
my lord jesus in his Atoning work upon
the cross I've become the recipient of his
divine indwelling his holy spirit And I walk
by faith I walk in the spirit for
every new situation into which every new step
takes me I breathe out To what I
am and I breathe in For all that
he is Walking by faith Invoking his divine
activity looking to jesus expecting him to get
into business I don't deserve it But then
he never said I did but he made
me that way He made me in such
a way that his presence now as god
within me is as indispensable as once the
Presence of the father on earth was indispensable
to him and it's enough for me to
be As his disciple like my lord his
servant as my master You know, I was
converted when I was a kid of 12
I was brought up in a good middle
-class home in london A very respectable home.
My parents were good people Cared for all
my normal daily needs sent me to a
good school.
I had excellent education.
You might not think so, but I did
That wasn't the school's fault that was mine
If I didn't learn too much I had
the chance and we Wore that thin veneer
of christianization, which is the mark of our
western civilization We were no more christians than
the back leg of a donkey But we
would have charged anybody with Insulting us sued
them for libel if they had suggested we
weren't christians What do you think we are
cannibals?
I mean we went to church on sunday
morning always once never twice Once was respectable
twice would have been fanatical We all had
bibles.
We never read them.
That would have been vulgar.
You know what?
I mean that thin veneer that Stamps a
home as being nominally christian without any of
the substance of that Which is to be
theirs who've claimed redemption through the shed blood
of our lord.
Jesus now live in the power of his
resurrection born of god But a kid friend
of mine who one year before had accepted
christ in a boy's camp in england Took
me with him to his bible class.
He'd been reared in the same circumstance and
that year before he had been converted Discovered
what it was all about and he was
so delighted that he being a good friend
wanted me to share the good thing He
had found so he took me to that
camp I didn't go to become a christian
because I thought why I was one I
didn't know what a christian was But I
must be one because my name was thomas
And my face was white and I was
born in england.
What better qualification for getting to heaven than
that?
I went primed to sleep in a tent
and go bathing and eat ice cream and
Have all the other things that you know
are fun for a kid on vacation But
there was a man who spoke to us
every morning and every evening.
His name was lawrence head We called him
bubbly head because he frothed at the mouth
when he spoke And that was a great
help to me Because you see instead of
watching the earwigs going up the tent pole.
I watched the bubbles on the side of
his mouth And it was a little game
that I played all the time he was
talking you see which was which was the
bubble that was going to burst first And
I kept score right and left you see
One time right was three ahead and then
the left side would catch up and overtake
two ahead.
It was heaps of fun And you see
as soon as one bubble burst that was
the end of that game And it started
all over again because a new bubble began
to develop he had bubbles galore He he
produced bubbles like a chicken laying eggs Well,
it kept me looking But he he had
that, you know beautiful knack of being able
to communicate kids of my ilk there are
about 150 of us And on the third
night of camp from john's gospel chapter 10
I'm the good shepherd the good shepherd laid
down his life for the sheep My sheep
hear my voice.
I know them And they follow me and
I give to them eternal life They will
never perish Nobody will ever pluck them out
of my hand That's the first time i'd
ever heard that And very ably he explained
to kids of our age just what it
meant for the lord Jesus god's dear incarnate
son to die that we might be forgiven
How that if we would only recognize his
voice who calls us by name?
He would receive us as forgiven sinners and
give us that quality of life, which alone
is eternal I didn't become a theologian in
that week I couldn't have explained many of
the terms But the holy spirit graciously ministered
to my heart and showed me that god
loved me enough to give his son to
die for me So that my sins might
be forgiven and that I might have a
quality of life that till then i've never
known There was no invitation there was no
You know After meeting or instruction, but at
the end of that meeting he said, you
know If you've never thanked the lord jesus
for dying for you, don't you think it's
time you did?
Well, I thought that was pretty smart.
And so At the end of the meeting
when we all prayed I prayed myself very
simply Admitting myself to be the guilty sinner
that I had come to know myself to
be in those few days Recognizing the love
of god in christ and recognizing my need
of him as my redeemer I simply said
lord jesus nobody told me this before but
I invite you to become my savior and
he did quarter to nine saturday night 13th
of august 1927 I could almost take you
to the blade of grass if it was
still there and it isn't But that's where
I was converting and i've never ever had
cause to doubt that In all the years
since that that was the moment when I
was reconciled to god My sins were forgiven
and he for christ's dear sake said I
will remember your sins no more And I
had received Whatever it might then have meant
to me eternal life I was god's child
I was on the way to heaven And
I was glad I didn't have any encouragement
in my home They called me bible bill
I had to share a room with a
room with an older brother and he was
very aggravated if I wanted to read my
bible So he'd fling it across the room
and I had to buy a flashlight and
read it under the blankets But I did
it because I loved the lord jesus and
the bible the bible began to live to
me You see it told me about him
And I can honestly say that I had
a genuine and sincere love for the lord
Jesus and wanted so much to serve him
by the age of 15 I was preaching
in the open air in the parks of
london hamstead heath I became the leader of
the christian group at school We had a
prayer meeting every morning before school began monday
lunch hour.
We had a gospel meeting thursday evening a
bible study And we did it because we
loved christ we wanted to be a testimony
in that school a public school I became
a counselor later at the camps where I
too had come to know christ seeking to
help others To recognize that the lord jesus
as he had died for me died for
them By the age of 17.
I decided I was graduating from high school
that i'd become a doctor going to london
university St. Bartholomew's hospital so that as a
doctor then I might go to africa Nigeria
was my target And during those two years
of university education Trained to become a doctor
i'm happy to tell you I never became
a doctor That's why so many people are
still alive But after two years studying medicine
Heavily involved with no little enthusiasm and all
the activities of intervarsity fellowship I Came to
that moment in my life of sheer despair
utterly exhausted Desperately disappointed at the futility of
all my endeavors try as I would nothing
happened I couldn't think of anybody who definitively
I had led to know christ redemptively I'd
witnessed to my friends given away tracks always
at the prayer meeting recognized to be the
one Upon whom folks could count if something
needed doing And I didn't think that you
know a big deal I was simply in
love with christ and I wanted to be
expendable in his service But baffled at my
own impotence until finally with a breaking heart
one night On the top fourth story of
a victorian home in hamstead which was where
my family lived and where I was born
I got down on my knees in tears
and said lord.
Jesus.
I love you with all my heart I
have no greater ambition, but to be a
missionary.
I want to evangelize the world, but i'm
tired Exhausted Depressed Frustrated I'm burned
out I Don't want to quit I can't
quit being a christian.
You've redeemed me heaven's my home.
I'm going to see you one day when
I get there But I don't have what
it takes What's the use of me going
to africa to be as useless there as
I have in england It wouldn't be fair
to them.
It wouldn't be fair to you and it
wouldn't be fair to myself If somebody else
has got what it takes i'll support them
i'd give them all the encouragement I can
i'll put my dollar in the plate But
count me out I'm through I quit I
thought he was going to be terribly disappointed
I mean to lose a promising young man
like me You know, it was almost in
that moment of despair as though the lord
jesus was right in the room And he
said i'm the way the truth and the
life and the life And the life and
the life And the life And he captured
my attention I said I get it and
the life You see as the way i'd
received him as the truth i'd proclaimed him
as the life I'd never counted upon him
I didn't realize you see that when the
lord jesus gave himself for me.
He did that so he could give himself
to me Nobody told me Please don't forget
to tell Those whom you lead to the
lord.
Jesus is the crucified redeemer That he didn't
die to get them out of hell and
into heaven but to get him out of
heaven into them You see if you lead
a boy to christ and you forget to
tell him that the christ who died for
him rose again to live Within him.
How are you going to how are you
going to teach him to live the christian
life?
All you can do is program him And
they program me And everything they taught me
was good read your bible every morning and
every night and if you do that You'll
have a good day.
If you don't you'll have a bad day
Quiet time Well, I learned I learned that
that was the methodology of living the christian
life So if I for a good or
bad reason didn't read my bible I had
a bad day I had to have a
bad day.
They said i was going to have a
bad day But she said I wasn't living
through christ.
I was living through a procedure It's a
marvelously good thing to begin the day with
god's word and end it with god's word
But that isn't the christian life I was
to witness to my friends go to prayer
meeting attend bible class Have tracks in my
pocket.
They programmed me But you see all I
was trying to do was to re-educate
an adamic nature to behave like a good
bible believing evangelical And I discovered that the
old adamic nature that is hostile to god
had no enthusiasm Whatever save in that measure
in by by virtue what I did other
people would recognize how keen I was Thumped
me on the back for my involvement And
that was totally unsatisfying I suddenly discovered And
I can honestly say I never heard it
from the lips of man I never picked
up a tract or a book in which
it was explained I only knew the jesus
who did his thing 2 000 years ago
to get me out of hell and into
heaven So that on earth now I could
do all I could out of a sincere
sense of duty and love affection and thankfulness
For somebody who was up there in heaven
peeping through the clouds watching me do it.
There was a dichotomy between My christianity on
earth good sound evangelical bible believing christianity a
dichotomy between that and christ himself Unwittingly, you
see i'd substituted christianity for christ as so
many substitute religion for god and ritual for
reality If when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to god by the death of his
son much more being reconciled.
We shall be saved by his life This
was an entirely new understanding saved by his
life Nobody ever told me I was saved
by the life of jesus christ They've told
me again and again i'm saved by his
death Well, I am in a limited sense
from the penalty of my sin.
It gets me off the hook Changes my
destination But all too often the lord jesus
on that basis simply becomes the doormat upon
which I work wipe my dirty feet And
get out of hell and into heaven.
He did die for me and in that
limited sense I'm saved from the penalty of
my sin, but that doesn't change my character
That doesn't make me holy That doesn't give
me the roots of righteousness He did so
much more than just die for me He
rose again from the dead as peter discovered
that we might become partakes of the divine
nature That he might become the source in
us of his own divine activity He now
once more the origin of his own image
and the cause of his own effect the
one who alone by his presence Is the
dynamic of all his own demands and suddenly
the truth dawned That all the things that
I had been begging for for seven solid
years Were already mine in christ.
I didn't need a new experience I didn't
need some psychedelic high All I needed to
recognize was that the one who redeemed me
as a boy at a quarter to nine
on a saturday night 12 years of age
was the one who at that very moment
in time came to take up residence and
for seven Weary years with all my activity
i'd kept him unemployed out of business That's
why it was such a relief for the
lord.
Jesus when at last I discovered that for
seven years I've been trying to live for
him with the best will in the world
a life that only he could live through
me What a relief And in that moment,
I said lord.
Jesus.
Thanks.
I see it now.
It's all so clear and it was It
was a moment of truth A moment of
truth.
I was just the glove He was the
hand and a glove is as strong as
the hand that's in it So long as
I was prepared now as a cleansed sinner
to clothe the mighty hand of god Then
everything possible to him would become possible to
me within his jurisdiction I couldn't dictate to
him what he was going to do.
I was simply the suit of clothes that
jesus wears the hands he could work with
the feet he could walk with the lips
he could speak with eyes to see with
ears to hear with Mind to think with
heart to love with added to the lord
I suddenly saw the exhilaration of being a
member of his body on earth of which
he is the head subject to his direction
Exercising an authority that would never ever derive
from me, but only by my submission to
his authority Allowing jesus christ to be god
Well, you know amazing thing happens in the
next five weeks nothing sensational spectacular people just
got saved that's all You know knocked on
the door And they literally knocked on door
And want to know how they could find
christ christians will release from the frustration and
futility of self-effort all that Despair that
comes from doing your best for jesus and
know that you're achieving nothing Making a lot
of noise and raising a lot of dust
but nothing left when it's all settled and
the shouting's over But you know those five
weeks were hilarious And at the end of
them and all I did was say thank
you instead of please Not please give me
strength suddenly.
I realized he doesn't give me strength.
He is my strength He doesn't give me
victory is my victory.
I don't rush around trying to win souls
for him I make myself available for him
to do that Which is essentially his business
the only one who can raise the dead
and give life to the lifeless It was
fantastic end of five weeks.
He said you can't have my life and
your program You can only have my life
and my program So you're going to quit
the university leave the medical school?
And go up and down the british isles
and tell people what you've discovered that i'm
alive not just in heaven But in them
go on off you go.
You don't have to If you want to
you can go to africa and be a
missionary But without me And you can come
back every three or four years with a
little box of slides And then tell your
story Well, i'd tried that route And it
didn't take me long to decide within five
weeks.
I quit And i've been to africa And
i've got a little box of slides in
spite Of all that you see but there
was something different now.
It wasn't a program It wasn't even a
field you see The need is the cold
never there are a thousand needs do we
have a thousand cold?
That can only use to lead us to
confusion we are called to christ then he
sends But he cannot send until you have
responded to his call Not to a field
not to the pastorate not to a pulpit
not to a program The lord jesus says
come unto me all ye that are weary
and heavy laden when he calls it's to
himself If any man thirsts let him come
to me You're not called to the mission
field you're not called to a pulpit you're
not called to a program you're called to
christ And when as a member of your
body you're available to him he'll send you
how shall they Believe on him of whom
they have not heard.
How shall they believe on him?
Of whom they have not heard How shall
they hear without a preacher?
How shall they preach except they be?
sent Sent but you'll never know what it
means to be sent and put until you've
answered the call I Put down the british
isles.
It was my privilege simply to share jesus
christ And let him loose in the hilarious
expectation Not of anything that I could accomplish
for him because I tried that and knew
that without him I could do nothing But
god so signally owned his testimony The witness
of the scriptures that speak of our lord
jesus and god honored his son War broke
out seven years serving in the royal fusiliers.
I reminded some folks the other day That's
the most famous regiment in the british army
and largely responsible winning world war ii though.
We are thankful for those who helped Headquarters
in the tower of london and when war
was over Reverting to the reserve of officers.
It was our privilege to establish In a
beautiful old country home in the northwest of
england capon ray hall the torchbearer fellowship with
bible schools now circling the globe 17 or
18 of them can't quite remember but a
way off in australia new zealand in indonesia
In india in germany and switzerland in france
in spain And you see this is what
god had in mind When in sheer despair
finally I got to the place and quit
and said god I can't And he in
so many words said no I never said
you could But I can And always said
I would You But will not cannot and
do not unless you let me all i'm
looking for is a perfect heart That is
prepared to say God show yourself strong on
my behalf Because apart from who you are.
I am nothing have nothing and I can
do nothing But all that you are i've
got I can't have more I need never
have less You see I had my plans
I dreamed my dreams I saw my vision
I could recognize myself carving my way through
the african bush But god Spoiled my picture
And replaced it The artist Standing on the
platform beneath the lofty cathedral dome Huh Step
back to gaze at his own handiwork.
It was magnificent.
It was intoxicating for sheer beauty And he
drank it all in it was his own
handiwork He did it his skill his artistry
His genius and that he might drink it
all in to better advantage.
He stepped back and then again and still
again and then again Until one last step
would have sent him plunging to his death
On the flagstone beneath him And at that
moment his assistant on the platform looked up
and with incredible presence of mind Leapt forward
grabbed a bucket of paint and threw it
all over that beautiful mural on the underside
of the great cathedral dome And the artist
leapt forward in a rage and said you've
spoiled my picture Very quietly he said yes
I spoiled your picture But I saved your
life Which would you rather have Your
picture or your life you'll live sir to
paint again You know god God sometimes spoils
your picture Maybe even this week he's been
spoiling your picture You've been gazing at it
Admiring your handiwork Evidencing god's power in your
life, but it's your picture Which would you
rather have your picture or his life You'll
live to paint again But the hand that
holds the brush Will be the hand of
god The master I'm
going to ask you in a moment to
pray with me See we've come to a
place in this conference as we have been
listening to god's word So faithfully unfolded for
us each morning in those bible hours And
in all the other events in which we
have been involved But you know truth demands
a moral option So that we may not
know only be instructed but that we might
allow by our obedience to the truth the
holy spirit to flesh it out in terms
of our humanity And you know there's a
boy a girl man a woman here and
you're not even redeemed You may be just
the mom or the dad of some student
some high school kid or one who's graduating
you're here as a relative a brother or
a friend There are some of you younger
ones who've been reared in a christian home
and you've learned all the facts from your
mother's knee You're not insincere you're not even
hostile But you've never come to christ You've
tried sometimes to live like a christian, but
you've been trying to live a life you
haven't got An awakened soul may be but
you've never been regenerate born again Because jesus
has never been invited by you personally to
come into your heart and live there and
clothe himself with you You've never said lord.
Jesus.
Here's your suit of clothes.
Have a good day Wouldn't it be a
lovely thing if tonight you were to do
that Wouldn't it be a lovely thing if
you've been sweating it out pushing the car
with a full tank doing your best for
jesus?
If suddenly you recognized The divine provision that
god has made by virtue of who his
son is living now where he does in
your heart And you're prepared to bow yourself
out and bow him in and say lord.
Jesus.
No bravado.
I don't make you any promises i'm simply
available For you to reveal yourself through me
as when and where you please i'm expendable
to the uttermost ends of the earth I
don't trust my own heart but you'll You'll
do it you've said you would if i'd
only let you I hardly know What the
consequences will be I wouldn't even guess as
to where it's going to put me but
somehow hilariously in my heart tonight Lordy, I
don't even care So long as I was
sent and went and knew That i've been
put So what i'm going to suggest is
that we pray together Now i'm not going
to ask you tonight to stand or raise
your hand or look at me or even
come to the front I'm, just going to
ask you to pray To the lord jesus
And it's just possible there's a boy girl
man or woman you don't even know how
to pray In receiving christ, so the first
thing i'm going to suggest is this very
simply That I ask you christian folk and
the vast bulk of you the vast vast
majority here tonight can look back to that
moment When you receive christ i'm going to
ask you tonight because you love the lord
jesus and therefore those for whom he died
I'm going to ask you to help me
help that boy girl man or woman who
tonight would be too nervous Say to stand
up or walk to the front or do
anything else And if I asked them to
do that they'd be facing the wrong issue
The only issue i'm asking you face is
faith To face is whether or not you
really want the lord jesus to be your
redeemer to live within your heart and share
his life with you, that's the only The
only issue i'm asking you to face And
i'm going to ask these christian folks to
pray Aloud after me in the same simple
words more or less that I prayed as
a kid unknown to anybody in my heart
when christ redeemed me And they're going to
pray after me not for themselves because you
can only pray this prayer at once Because
when he comes he comes to stay Forever
Forever But they're going to pray these words
aloud so that you without any embarrassment you
can face the only issue I want you
to face tonight Whether in true genuine repentance
toward god knowing that you're the sinner that
you are You want christ for the savior?
He came to be to reconcile you to
god and come graciously To share his life
with you on earth forever if that's true
add your voice To ours and a marvelous
marvelous thing will happen to me.
I may not know forever until we get
to heaven It doesn't matter too much so
long as the one person knows tonight to
whom you're going to talk Lord jesus And
then we'll just move on just in the
same simple way but not at length, but
quite briefly let's Unite then our voice and
you who receive him tonight can join us
in so doing and say lord jesus You're
in business I don't know what it's going
to involve but I know it's going to
be marvelous All that you are In all
that I am for time and eternity I
want you to know that i'm expendable to
the uttermost ends of the earth Let's pray
I'm going to pray very simply As once
I did as a child Christian folks are
going to pray after me just sentence by
sentence clearly allowed And without any embarrassment to
you and i'm not tricking you i'm not
going to ask you to do anything after
this Here tonight I'm not But if you
want to know christ as your redeemer and
you've never ever had that absolute assurance in
your heart Would you forget that there is
anybody here tonight but you and the lord
jesus And as we seek because we love
you to help you add your voice to
ours make it the language of your heart
You're not talking to me or anybody else
save the lord jesus Jesus And a wonderful
thing will happen He will accept you Though
you don't deserve it You'll be born again
Redeemed you'll become a child of god forgiven
forever Let us pray dear lord jesus christ
I know that on the cross No Though
you never deserved it You were made sin
Treated by god As though you had committed
all sin In all time And you died
To pay the debt To pay the debt
Your precious blood was shed To cleanse from
sin I am one of those sinners lord
jesus For whom you died I'm sorry My
sin added to your load My sin But
i'm so thankful That when you died lord
jesus You remembered me I gladly receive you
My redeemer To pay my debt To cleanse
me from sin I received the forgiveness That
I could never deserve But you so freely
give And now I know Because you have
promised I am redeemed My sins are gone
By your holy spirit At this very moment
You have come to live in me Forever
never to leave me Nor to forsake me
I am born again I'm a member of
your body I share your life Thank you
so much Thank you so much That I
now am a child of god Now let's
just thank him for the glorious prospect That
is ours As we continue to pray in
this simple way and all of us can
make this the language of our hearts Would
you join me in the same simple way?
as pray Dear lord jesus I thank you
that you not only died But You rose
again You're alive now And you're alive in
me Thank you for your strength Thank you
for your victory Thank you for all that
you plan To do through me in spite
of me but because of who you are
Living where you do In my heart I
want to apologize lord jesus That i've hindered
you so much In my stubborn self-will
Misguided dedication Trying to do so much for
you That only you can do through me
But now I capitulate I quit And thank
you For what you plan For my life
I am available And eagerly anticipate Your rich
blessing as each new day dawns As big
as god As big as god Thank you
for being my life My victory my future
my god Anywhere To the uttermost ends of
the earth In your own dear and peerless
name In your own dear and peerless name
Jesus My lord Amen Just
may I say this before I relinquish a
platform Amen If tonight for the very first
time you prayed as we did as I
invited you so to do accepting christ I
have the absolute right to tell you As
he knows your heart and the sincerity with
which you deliberately chose to receive him You
have been redeemed You don't deserve it nor
do I but that is his pledge And
You you have the right to thank him
That he's honored his word And you may
say do you mean I can be saved
without raising my hand or walking to the
front or standing?
Yes of course Through that faith That takes
And says thank you and lets god move
redemptively into your life, but i'll tell you
something In that others may not know that
you've done that they can't help you too
much Unless you let them know they want
to help you.
They want to be your friend So may
I urge you at the earliest opportunity?
To let Your mom dad if you're a
kid your brother sister or your child if
you're a mom or a dad Or your
pastor or your christian friend just let them
know unashamedly excitedly.
I receive christ.
What do you think i'm redeemed?
I never knew it was so simple.
I didn't deserve it, but I know i'm
lost By nature a child of god's judgment,
but he's forgiven me for jesus sake and
I want you to know it and I
want to get all the help from you
and I want to be all the help
to you and anybody else that Is in
any way possible so get excited about having
received christ and make sure that somebody knows
So they can help you And so that
you then can be numbered amongst those who
can help others And those of you who
as christians have quit pushing the car with
a full tank Get excited about tomorrow Begin
to thank him in advance Have no preconceived
notions as to what he's going to do
or how he's going to do it.
That's not your business You don't tell god
the head What you're going to do is
a memory of his body you simply make
yourself available and allow that spontaneous expression of
his life To bring untold benediction of your
upon your fellow human beings to his eternal
praise and the unspeakable comfort of your own
soul In other words go out and live
it up Share his life on earth on
the way to heaven and then forever Isn't
that exciting?
Oh the lord bless you if you got
blessed serve you right.
You shouldn't hang around Okay You've been listening
to a sermon by major ian thomas if
you've been blessed by this sermon You can
find more sermons by him and additional resources
on this subject at path to prayer dot
com Again, if you've been blessed by this
sermon, you can find more sermons by major
ian thomas at path to prayer.com as
well as other resources