Let me introduce you to one of my
favorite composers, He has composed many of the
songs in my lectures, and he is one
of the greatest composers ever.
He is a great musician, and he has
a song called All You Need is Love.
He was born in New York, in 1933,
and he has been living in New York
for the past 20 years.
He is a really special person.
He is a very talented musician, Hello
listeners, greetings to you all and a warm
welcome is yours to our program today.
This is your friend Harry Venton presenting for
your listening enjoyment another 30 minutes of inspirational
music together with a meditation from God's Word
the Bible.
We are pleased to have Peter Brandon with
us again and the devotion Peter will share
with you later in the program, he has
titled it, What is Christianity all about?
It is our prayer through our ministry today
that God will touch your heart and you
will have the assurance of his abiding presence
and comfort in your life.
Now let's enjoy together our first recording, a
medley entitled Wonderful Peace.
Peace, peace, wonderful
peace, coming down from the Father above,
sweep over my spirit with forever I pray,
in boundless fields of love.
Far away in the depths of my spirit
tonight, though the melody's weaker than song, intellect
like rain, it unceasingly falls on my soul
like an infinite song.
Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down
from the Father above, sweep over my spirit
with forever I pray, in boundless fields
of love.
There comes to my heart one sweet strain.
Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from
the Father above, Peace,
peace, wonderful peace, coming
down from the Father above, sweep over
my spirit.
In Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 3 we
read these words, Thou wilt keep him in
perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.
Friend, we can experience a deep, settled peace
in every emergency if we keep our minds
fixed upon the One who is the source
of our peace, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christian's rest is an active reliance on
the mighty and everlasting arms of God.
Contentment of heart depends upon more than good
feelings or a trouble-free environment.
It comes as we build our lives on
God's unfailing promises despite the intensity of outward
conflicts.
A contest was held in which artists were
invited to paint a picture of perfect peace.
The judges eventually narrowed down the number of
competitors to two men who had beautifully portrayed
this concept on canvas.
The first created a scene of a still,
lone lake high in the mountains.
The second depicted a thundering waterfall with the
branch of a birch tree bending over the
foam.
On the fork of that limb, wet with
spray, a robin sat undisturbed on her nest.
The first picture spoke of tranquillity, but the
second won the prize.
It showed in dramatic detail that absolute calmness
can be found in the midst of turbulent
surroundings.
Friends, it is easy to remain unruffled when
everything is quiet and serene, but to rest
while the storm is raging, that is perfect
peace.
As you face the trials and testings of
life, turn all your anxieties over to the
Lord Jesus Christ, centre your thoughts on Him
and the precious promises of His Word and
you will experience a peace that passes all
understanding.
Now following on from our next recording, Peter
Brandon will share his devotion with you.
God is peace like a river Peace
like a river God is peace like a
river In my soul God
is peace like a river Peace
like a river God is peace like
a river In my soul Peace like
a river God is joy like a river
In my soul God is
joy like a river Joy
like a river God is joy like a
river In my soul God is
river God is love like a river In
my soul God is love
like a river Love like a
river God is love like a river In
my soul God is
life like a river God is grace like
a river In my soul God
is grace like a river Grace
like a river God is grace like a
river In my soul My subject
today will simply be this, what is Christianity
all about?
I was in a school and I put
this question to some boys and girls in
their late teens and some people thought that
Christianity was all about being good other people
thought it was going to church and so
on and when I came from that school
room I thought well how important it is
to explain to people what Christianity is all
about So dear friends this is the verse
and I want to try and explain it
to you for a few moments if you
will give me your hearing It's in Luke
19 verse 10 For the Son of Man
is come to seek and to save that
which was lost Many years ago there was
a tremendous explosion in the heart of Germany
in a particular iron ore mine and when
that mine went up in smoke hundreds of
people lost their lives but from that mine
disaster a wonderful parable was given when about
40 men were rescued and I want to
draw a parallel from that mine story a
group of miners got into the cage and
they were hurried down to the bowels of
the earth and they didn't basically realize what
was going to happen otherwise they would never
have gone down and when they got to
the depth of the earth they were digging
for iron ore and suddenly there was a
violent explosion that shook the whole mine and
eventually they could see that the water system
of the mine had broken up and there
were bubbles of water appearing under their feet
it wasn't long before that water turned into
a stream and from a stream into a
torrent of death and fortunately their foreman knew
the geography of the mine very well and
he told these men to follow him and
as they were wading through the water they
came eventually to a rock upon which they
climbed and here were 40 men away from
the light away from life shutting in darkness
with no hope whatever they were lost now
dear friends in one way the human race
is just like that it is away from
God but why is it away from God?
because of the ugly fact of sin the
scripture teaches your iniquities have separated between you
and your God and your sins have hid
his face from you that he will not
hear now of course people don't talk very
much about sin but that is my dear
friends the number one problem in the world
today the irritation, the selfishness, the bad temper,
the lust that is prevalent in the world
is the most killing disease that we have
and every single one of us including the
speaker is guilty of personal sin these men
who were Germans tried fanatically to get out
of that situation they even tried to scratch
through the rock because they thought that if
they could get to the other side of
the wall there might be some kind of
safety for them and those men when they
were found had no skin on their hands
and for 24 hours they were trying to
scratch through rock to get to the light
and after a gallant attempt some of them
fell exhausted and they knew that they were
beaten there was nothing that they could do
to scratch themselves to the light and dear
friends there is nothing that the human family
can do in order to get right with
God now it's a good thing to go
to a place of worship but that will
not make you right with God it's a
good thing to do the very best you
can and I believe many of you try
and do that but that will not make
you right with God there is nothing that
the human family can do that can really
make you right with God if we are
going to be made right with God it's
only God that can do it eventually the
news leaked out that there could be 40
people still alive and this is the irony
of the story they had a funeral in
a Lutheran church and they thought 400 people
were dead when 40 people were actually still
alive two men were miraculously released from the
mine not from this part of the mine
from another part of the mine and they
heard these people scratching upon rock and they
let out the news that there could be
40 still alive and they knew if they
were alive they were on this particular rock
because that was the only place where they
could possibly be alive they hired a German
engineer and he sunk a shaft and it
came right over the heads of these poor
stranded miners now I want you to imagine
this 40 men in the darkness waiting to
die they hear a rumbling over their heads
and when the drill is taken out they
see light and when they saw light they
just wept with emotion light isn't it a
lovely word you know dear friends Jesus said
that he was the light of the world
that meant he was the one that gave
us light about God light about our condition
and light on the way in which we
can get back to God that's why when
he was here he said I am the
way the truth and the light and then
they dropped a red telephone and someone picked
up this red telephone and this is what
he heard hold on men don't give up
I'm going to send down a saviour and
so a promise was made that a saviour
was coming and that is the story of
the Old Testament over and over again God
makes promises that he's going to send a
saviour and therefore in the Old Testament we
find the birth of Christ predicted we find
the kind of life that he would live
and the miracles that he did all predicted
and then in the Old Testament we find
even the kind of death that he was
going to die all predicted and what God
was saying in those Old Testament scriptures I'm
going to send a saviour but of course
promising them a saviour didn't really give them
an immediate saviour they wanted a doctor that
was going to be willing enough to give
his life to save 40 men they wanted
someone strong enough to save 40 men and
it took them 48 hours now think of
that 48 hours to find a saviour and
then a German surgeon came forward 38 years
of age a brilliant young man an ex
-rugby player weighed 40 and a half stone
and he volunteered to go down and it
was a great moment when the world on
the television saw this young man first of
all his three children kissed him goodbye then
his wife hugged him and said goodbye his
mum and dad very emotionally said goodbye and
then they strapped him in a chair called
the chair of elevation and they hurried him
down to the bows of the earth and
when he went down the man who was
giving the viewing actually said this ladies and
gentlemen he's gone from the light into the
darkness from death from life right into the
jaws of death and that's what your saviour
did he couldn't save us in heaven he
had to come into this world and when
he came into this world he said lo
I come in the volume of the book
it is written of me to do thy
will O God and when he came here
he did something that the German saviour couldn't
do he went to a cross of wood
and on that cross he allowed a holy
God to plunge upon him the sins of
the whole world the scripture says he bare
our sins in his own body on the
tree the word of God says in Isaiah
53 he was wounded for our transgressions and
bruised for our iniquities and he died on
that cross because he loved us and he
wanted to save us but when the German
saviour got down there was a panic someone
wanted to be the first one up how
selfish people can be even when they're in
the midst of a predicament unfortunately he had
the wisdom to put the man down forcibly
and then he shouted and said this I'll
not save one of you until you promise
to give me your faith and obedience and
he went to one man that was so
weak he couldn't even lift his arms and
he said to him would you allow me
to save you and the man just nodded
his head and I want you to watch
those I want you to see those 39
men watching one man being saved and the
German saviour lifted him up in his arms
put him in the chair of elevation strapped
him in and he said in German what
I'm going to say in English up and
then they saw the act of saving they
saw the man being lifted from darkness into
light from death right into life and when
the news got out up top there was
a terrific cheer for almost a hundred thousand
people waiting and there was a cheer and
there was one word on their lips saved
for they knew if one was saved they
could all be saved you know dear friends
I saw that happen in the spiritual I
saw a man who was a major in
the army who had lived a pretty bad
life and he knelt down and with a
broken heart he confessed the Lord that he
was a poor lost sinner and then he
told the Lord that he believed Christ died
for him and then I read a scripture
to him whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved and that
man in simple phrase called out Lord would
you save a sinner like me and spiritually
he was lifted from the darkness of sin
into the light of God's presence from eternal
death into everlasting life and beloved friends that
savior is near you and what he did
for Ross Adams he can do for you
remember the son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost
with all him I true to nothing with
all him I truly say with all
him I would be drifting like a ship
without a sail Jesus, oh
Jesus you know him today will not turn
him away oh Jesus, oh Jesus
without him, oh Lord, I would sing
without him, I would be dying without
him, I'd be in flames without
him, I'd be hopeless but with Jesus, thank
God, I'm saved Jesus, oh
Jesus you know him today will not turn
him away oh Jesus, oh
Jesus without him, oh
Lord, I would be some
unknown poet has penned the following words I'm
going to quote and I would like you
to listen to them I have a soul
to be saved may this truth be engraved
in my mind and heart today oh how
awful the cost if my soul should be
lost and I die in my sins without
him friends, it is true we all need
a savior to deliver us from the consequences
of our sins God, seeing our deep need
for a savior sent his beloved son to
die for us and our Lord Jesus was
willing to make that supreme sacrifice for our
salvation as your Christian friends we would urge
you to consider seriously the great importance of
knowing Jesus Christ as your personal savior prayerfully,
we invite you to put your faith and
trust in him today rest on the promise
of God's word in John chapter 5 and
verse 24 he that heareth my word and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into judgment but
is passed from death unto life my dear
friend if you do just that I can
say on the authority of God's word all
will be well with your soul As
we bring our program to a close we
remind listeners of our free cassette offer today's
program has been recorded on cassette and is
available to you free and postpaid to obtain
your copy just address your request to Times
of Refreshing Post Office Box 66 Lillydale 3140
When writing be sure to mention this number
in your letter 930 Program number 930 and
the address again is Times of Refreshing Post
Office Box 66 Lillydale 3140 This broadcast has
been a radio missionary outreach of the Christian
Brethren Assemblies of Victoria and is made possible
by God's provision through His people Thank you
friends for your company today until next we
meet this is Harry Venton on behalf of
Peter Brandon and the Voice of Melody team
wishing you God's richest blessing goodbye for now
and remember keep looking up