I want to give you one little verse.
It's been a great blessing to me and
it answers the question that has been put
to me.
Can we actually be sure of eternal life?
And I'm just going to give you one
verse.
It's John 5 verse 24.
The Lord is the speaker.
Now, verily, verily, I say unto you, he
that heareth my word, and believes on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life.
Now I'm sure the Lord will bless that
one scripture to us tonight.
We don't use the word verily, verily today.
If you went into a shop and said
to the man, verily, verily, he would think
that you came from another world.
So what does the word mean?
It comes from a Latin word, veritas, and
it has three meanings.
First of all, it can be translated, amen,
amen.
Now when we say a prayer, we finish
it in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, amen.
What does that mean?
It means you wish the Lord to answer
that prayer.
Now when the Lord was going to make
a great promise, instead of putting at the
end of the promise his amen, he always
puts it at the beginning.
In other words, he says, here's the promise,
and here's the guarantee, amen, amen.
So that's good.
Then the word verily, translated in a language
that we can understand, means truly, truly.
Quite frankly, it is almost impossible for us
to speak the absolute truth.
For instance, if I told you a story,
and you related that story to another person,
you could not actually communicate those facts verbatim,
because of the lack of memory.
Therefore, it's almost impossible for human beings to
speak the absolute truth.
But Jesus Christ, who was the epitome of
truth, could actually say this, of a truth.
Of a truth, and that truth was absolute.
And then lastly, it can mean listen, listen.
When we were young, there were eight in
our family, five boys, three girls.
All squashed in a little London hat.
And my dear mother, she had rheumatism in
that finger.
And when we were going fishing, she would
call us boys, and she would put that
rheumatically finger right under our noses, and she
would say, listen.
And one eyebrow would go up, and the
other eyebrow would go down.
And when mum said, listen, we had to
listen.
When Jesus was speaking, sometimes he would stop
and he would say, listen, listen.
Don't miss this.
So can you see now the brilliance of
those words?
Verily, verily.
I say, great men have spoken.
When we were children, we had to learn
some of the words of Plato, the great
Greek philosopher, Aristotle.
Some of the words of the great Cicero.
Some of the words of Julius Caesar, or
the Caesar.
We had to learn words from Alexander the
Great.
And I suppose some of us can still
remember some of the stirring words Churchill gave
to us in the war.
But most of the words of these great
men have been lost.
But here's something with a difference.
The words of Jesus are more powerful today
than when he first spoke of them.
There are more people listening to Jesus Christ
in the 20th century than at any other
time in history.
Why?
He said, heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my word shall abide forever.
And when we read those words in the
Bible, we must stop and listen.
Verily, verily, I say.
I like the word you.
Sometimes it can refer to a crowd like
5,000.
Sometimes it can refer to group society like
a family or like the 12 apostles.
Other times it can refer to an individual.
And I would like to think that the
Lord has a word for you as an
individual.
And can I put it to you like
this?
Listen, listen.
I say to you.
To you.
A personal word for you.
Then he goes on.
He that heareth my word.
Now the words of Jesus are divided into
two.
There are the light words.
And there are the love words.
Or to put it in another way.
There are the words of absolute truth.
There are the words of intrinsic love.
Now it's the truth that worries us.
No one actually loves the perfect truth.
Especially when it's subjective.
Can I give you a case in point?
I once had my photograph taken by a
theologian who said he had a brilliant camera.
And when I got those pictures back they
were the absolute truth.
No doubt about that.
But it brought out these bushy eyebrows.
The wrinkles under my eyes.
It brought out these two pimples.
One you can see, one you can hardly
see.
And would you believe it, I've got a
small pimple on the end of my nose.
And it even brought that out.
You see, it was an exact picture of
my physiogamy but I didn't like the truth.
We were having tea with another lady.
And we were talking about this theologian because
he certainly knew the Bible.
And she said we used to be great
friends.
And then I wondered what was coming.
Until he took my photograph.
And she went to the drawer and I
could see she was grossly irritated.
And she took out the pictures and she
threw them on the table.
And she said, do you think that looks
like me?
Well it was a beauty.
It was just like her.
But she didn't like the truth.
Now can I put this to you?
Do you think the almighty God could use
flattery?
Could he deceive us?
Could the one who is the very embodiment
of all truth tell a lie?
Impossible.
Therefore when God takes an x-ray of
us, it is absolutely spot on and perfect.
And he always takes a moral x-ray
of us.
And he looks at our hearts.
That's the seed plot of our thoughts.
And he says the heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked.
Who would like their thought lies exposed?
None of us.
Then God as it were, straps a tape
recorder to our throats.
And then he plays back every bad word
we have said in the last ten years.
And then he says the throat is like
an open sepulcher.
Then God looks at our morals through the
lens of the ten commandments.
And as it were, he ticks off every
commandment that we have broken.
And many of us have smashed the ten
commandments over and over again.
And he says there is no difference.
All have sinned and come short of the
glory of God.
Now I want to ask a question.
Do you think that God could have people
in his presence in a place called heaven
like that forever?
Could he?
Would you like to be in a place
called heaven and see someone losing his or
her temper?
Could you ever imagine in heaven an act
of lust?
Could you imagine two people in heaven gossiping?
Wouldn't be heaven, would it?
Now the problem.
God has made us in his image and
in his likeness.
And that means the soul, our personality is
eternal.
And that can't die.
The body dies, not the soul.
Now ladies and gentlemen, let me say this
to you in loud.
If you die like that without those sins
forgiven, you are lost eternally.
Now when you hear that, you can't clap
your hands and say that's lovely.
But before you can become a Christian, you
must face up to those facts.
Then he comes in with his love words.
And here is one scripture I want to
leave with you which I think is full
of beauty.
That God commends his love toward us in
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us.
Isn't that lovely?
That means God knows us through and through.
And he knows all about our sins.
He knows all about our weaknesses.
He knows our destiny.
But he still loves us.
But now we hear a lot of people
talking about love.
We hear a lot of people singing about
love.
And let's face it, so much of that
is pure emotion.
There is no reality in it.
I was only reading the other day of
a couple well known in the history of
our world.
And they were joined together in marriage.
And the beautiful things they said to one
another, it only lasted.
See the hypocrisy.
But when God says that he loves us,
he means it and he has demonstrated it.
Now how do we really know that God
loves us?
God loved us so much.
And his love was so realistic.
That Jesus Christ went to a cross and
put himself on it.
And on that cross he took the responsibility
of our sins.
And the scripture says this.
He bare our sins in his own body
on the tree.
And that is why he cried with a
loud voice so that everyone could hear when
he was on the cross.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?
Would you allow me now to point again.
Do you know why he was forsaken?
For your sins.
For your sins and my sins.
And when we understand that we see the
absolute reality of God's love.
When he said it is finished, it simply
meant he bore our sins.
He endured the judgement for our sins before
God.
So that now God could righteously forgive us
and remain just when he actually did the
forgiving.
And then God has raised him from the
dead and there is a living saviour.
And that saviour wants to come to each
one of us and give us the forgiveness
of sins.
That we might have peace and then come
right into our lives in the power of
the Holy Spirit to transform us.
So can you see now, hearing the word
means I hear the truth that God says
about me and accept it.
I hear of the love of God and
believing.
And then he makes this and believes on
him that sent me.
Now I have been looking at you.
And I think this calculation is correct.
I am sure that 98% of the
people in this room believe in God.
Am I right?
98% of the people in this room
believe in Jesus Christ.
So if I had a little chat with
you and I said something like this.
Do you believe Jesus was a perfect man?
I think you would say yes.
Do you believe that he was the son
of God?
Well I can't fully understand it but I
believe it.
Good.
Do you believe that he died on the
cross for the sins of the world and
died for your sins?
Well yes.
Do you believe that God raised him from
the dead?
And he is alive?
He is there?
Yes I think I do believe that.
But that's believing with the head.
You know James said a very naughty thing
when I first read it.
I was really upset with him.
He said do you believe in God?
You do well.
Now here it comes.
The devils believe and tremble.
Do you know what that means?
If we could see a demon sitting on
that chair.
And I said to that demon do you
believe in God?
He would say yes.
Do you believe that Jesus is the son
of God?
Yes we all believe that.
Do you believe that he died on the
cross for the sins of the world?
Yes.
And do you believe God has raised him
from the dead?
We all believe that and tremble.
But they just believe it intellectually.
It's not this heart belief.
Now let me give you the scripture and
let me explain.
The word of God says if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
And here it comes.
And believe in thine heart that God has
raised him from the dead.
Thou shalt be saved.
Now what's the difference between believing with the
head and believing with the heart?
We had two boys.
And when they were young we took them
to the sea.
And it was called Frinton.
Frinton on sea.
Nothing like your beautiful beaches and certainly much
colder.
But before they went to the sea they
used to put their tummies on a chair.
With a light belt all round them.
And they would show their mother all the
strokes they were going to do in the
crawl and the backstroke.
And they were marvellous swimmers on the chair.
Well the Monday morning came and I took
them.
Immediately the sea touched their feet.
Now they had the knowledge in their head.
They had the light belts all around them.
And then when we eventually got them waist
deep I said, Right boys, take your feet
off the bottom.
All I heard was a nervous no no
no no no no no no no.
And you know we tried to barter with
them.
We offered them money to take their feet
off the bottom.
They wouldn't do it.
Believed all about it.
Had the light belt all around them.
But they wouldn't give themselves to it.
Well it was a disappointing holiday because our
two boys sat on the circumference of the
sea.
And they couldn't enjoy it.
The next year, would you believe it, we
had the same treatment.
We took them out until they were thigh
deep and then we said, Come on, take
your feet off the bottom.
Would they do it?
The next year I didn't bother with them.
And I was sitting in one of those
good old fashioned deck chairs.
You don't see them here but you see
them there in England.
And I was reading a book, VHM on
Genesis, and I was really enjoying it.
When all of a sudden one of my
boys came bounding up the beach.
And you know when a child is excited,
every part of his body speaks.
His ear, his eyes, his ears, his lips.
And he said, Dad, I've done it.
I said, what have you done?
He says, I've taken my feet off the
bottom and it worked.
The last holiday we had was at Largs
in Scotland.
One was 19 and the other was 17.
And if it was cold in Frinton, it
was freezing at Largs in Scotland.
My wife and I, we went out a
quarter of a mile.
That was our lot.
And our two boys nearly swam to Millport,
three and a half miles.
And it all started when one took his
feet off the bottom.
Dear friends, there comes a time when you
say something like this.
I know I'm a sinner.
I know I can't go to heaven like
this.
But I believe that Christ died for me.
I believe that God has raised him from
the dead and he is the Savior.
And you do something that's wonderful.
Instead of nodding at Jesus, with your heart
you trust him to save you.
And that could happen right now.
You could switch off from me now.
And in the quietness of your heart, you
could say, Lord, I'm going to trust you
to forgive me and save me.
And you could pass from death.
That's belief.
It's not just knowing in the head.
It's that living faith in the heart.
Then he says, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my word and believe
on him that sent me has everlasting life.
Now what's everlasting life?
Now you will agree with me if it
said life, that would be wonderful.
But this is everlasting life.
Now what is everlasting life?
It's the life of the Lord Jesus.
In him was life.
And the life was the light of men.
He said, I am come that ye might
have life and that ye might have it
more abundantly.
He said, I am the way, the truth
and the life.
So full life is seen in the Lord
Jesus.
Now comes the problem.
How can the Lord Jesus Christ as a
person come and live in my life?
For that's what it will mean.
You see, we can actually put blood, blood
of another person in your body.
They can actually put another kidney in your
body.
They can sometimes put another liver in your
body.
And sometimes they can put another heart in
your body.
But one thing they can't do, and put
another kind of life in your body.
But God can.
When Jesus Christ went back to heaven, and
this was very wonderful.
He went back to heaven to send another
divine person, the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit came in tremendous power.
To do what?
He is the indwelling person of the Trinity.
And he can actually come right into the
life of a person.
And transform that person's life.
Now can I describe it with my glasses
case?
Imagine that to be your body.
My spectacle case.
Inside our body, our sinning behaviour causes uncleanness
before God.
Not before men, before God.
And therefore before the Holy Spirit can come
into our lives.
We must be cleansed from sin to the
satisfaction of God.
Now please note this.
That is why Jesus Christ died on the
cross.
He died on the cross so that God
could righteously forgive sin.
Now why can he righteously forgive sin?
Because Jesus bore it's punishment.
And through his precious blood all our sins
can be forgiven.
And then the great miracle takes place.
When you have been cleansed from sin.
The Holy Spirit as symbolised by my spectacle
actually comes into your life.
And in your body as it were invading
your soul is the Holy Spirit.
And that's a Christian.
A Christian is someone that's not trying to
follow Jesus.
But a Christian is someone who possesses his
nature in the power of the Spirit.
And that's the greatest experience in life.
The Holy Spirit coming in to give you
eternal life.
Now when that happens there is a paradox.
Note this.
The body, the physical part of you will
grow old.
But not the spiritual part, your personality.
Your personality will never grow old once you
have become a Christian.
And if you have to do your dying
what God does is simply this.
He takes away the soul and the spirit
and it goes to be with the Lord
Jesus which is far better.
Already you have been enjoying him but now
you are going to enjoy him much more.
And then one day when he comes again
he will give you a new kind of
body called the body of glory.
So that it can stand the glory of
heaven.
And that is why it is such a
wonderful thing to be a Christian.
Because you receive a cleansing.
You receive the power of the Holy Spirit
so that you are born anew and you
have eternal life now.
And then when you have to do your
dying or should the Lord comes you go
immediately to be with Christ.
Or should the Lord come you get a
completely new body, the body of glory.
And it is as simple as this.
A fish has a body for the water.
A bird has the body for the air.
Human beings have a body for the earth.
We haven't yet got a body for heaven.
If you took that body and plunged it
in heaven it would disintegrate.
Just like putting a man on the moon.
Therefore one day he is going to give
us a body of glory.
And that body will last forever.
And do you know what will happen?
When there is the new heaven and the
new earth there will be no thing like
transportation.
We shall move in the power of levitation.
Sometimes we shall be seen sometimes we shall
not be seen.
We shall have a body of glory.
That is why it is so wonderful to
have eternal life.
We were having some meetings and I was
clothed with this in Glasgow.
And most of the people that were coming
were from the Church of Scotland.
They were actually held in a house.
And one day I spoke straight from the
shoulder on the subject of sin.
We must not hide these subjects.
We have got to be faithful when we
preach the word.
Another afternoon when they were there I spoke
about the reason why Christ died.
And I just took up the scripture.
Christ died for our sins according to the
scripture.
And then I took up another scripture.
How to be right with God.
And I took up that lovely verse.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
And although these people were very religious and
we might say that they were quite middle
class people.
I must say this they were very nice
people indeed.
And then I said well next week I
just want those who would like to really
be factual and practical and trust the Lord
Jesus.
And four people turned up.
One had to leave.
One was a church elder.
The other was his wife.
And another lady by the name of Mrs.
Brown who was a very very wealthy woman.
She sat on the other side of the
room.
And I shall never forget it.
She had a genuine mink coat and hat.
She wouldn't be able to wear it in
Scotland because she would be pestered by all
kinds of people.
Anyhow she took her coat off.
And there we were just ordinary people.
Now I said to them I am not
going to speak but I want you really
to ask me some questions about what I
have said.
So the elder spoke first and he said
quite frankly Mr. Brandon when you spoke about
sin I wasn't annoyed but I was shaken.
I said but why?
Well he said I never thought of myself
as a sinner.
I knew I wasn't perfect but never thought
of myself as a sinner.
But I did my homework.
What did you do?
Well he said I looked at the Ten
Commandments and I picked off those commandments I
thought I had kept and those I thought
I had broken.
And I realized that the Bible is right.
We have all sinned.
Good I said.
And inside me I was saying praise the
Lord because you can't become a Christian until
you know that fact.
Then he said the night you spoke on
the cross or the afternoon you spoke on
the cross.
Was a little disturbing.
I said but why were you disturbed?
Well he said as you know as an
elder I help the minister with the communion
four times a year.
And I have taught people Christ died for
our sins.
Yes.
And then he found it hard to speak
and I saw him look away and his
eyes get a bit misty.
And he said this quietly.
I never knew that when Jesus Christ died
on the cross he died for my sins.
I said do you know that now?
He said I do.
My sins put him there.
And he loved me.
That's a divine revelation.
And if I said praise the Lord I
nearly said it out loud.
You can't become a Christian.
Then he turned to me he said this
is the problem.
He said that verse you gave us Romans
10.13 Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
Yes.
He said I've been asking the Lord three
days to save me.
But it doesn't work.
And his wife was so shocked I can
see her now.
She turned and she said Why didn't you
tell me you were going through this process?
I've been going through it too.
And I've been asking the Lord to save
me.
But I never get through.
And this lady Mrs. Brown.
She said I can hardly believe what I'm
hearing.
I've had the same experience.
Asking asking.
But I'm not sure if I'm saved.
So I said to them.
Would one of you please.
Read one scripture.
So Mrs. Brown volunteered.
And she put on her reading specs.
And she read this verse.
And I'm going to read it as she
read it.
Not with the Scottish accent.
But with the deliberation.
And this is what she said.
And this is how she read it.
Verily verily I say unto you.
Could that refer to me?
Yes.
He that heareth my word.
We've heard that haven't we?
Yes.
And believeth on him that sent me.
I see it now.
My faith isn't strong enough.
No.
I said it's not a great faith in
a little saviour.
It's a little faith in a great saviour.
Oh.
Hath everlasting life.
I said say that again my dear.
Hath everlasting life.
So I said.
When you hear.
When you take your feet off the bottom
and trust.
He says hath everlasting life.
And do you know what she said?
Well I sincerely hope I've got it.
I said you haven't got it my dear.
He doesn't say sincerely hope you have eternal
life.
He says hath.
Can I read it again?
I said if you like.
And she nearly stared through the pages.
And she read it like this.
Verily verily I say unto you got that.
He that heareth my word got that.
And believeth on him that sent me.
I see that.
Hath everlasting life.
Oh dear she says.
I sincerely hope I've got it.
I said no my dear.
You are saying sincerely hope in an agony.
Jesus says hath.
And he doesn't tell lies.
I got excited.
She said would you let me read it
again.
I said alright my dear.
And this is how she read it.
Softly this time.
Verily verily I say unto you.
He that heareth my word.
And believeth on him that sent me.
Then there was a silence.
Hath everlasting life.
And with a long face she said.
To the elder.
According to Jesus I've got it.
I said say that again.
According to Jesus I've got it.
I said say that again.
According to Jesus I've got it.
Oh she says I've got it.
Already she had eternal life.
When she first prayed.
But now the word had given her assurance.
And she passed.
Into eternal life.
And now that dear soul.
Is with the Lord Jesus.
In heaven.
Oh dear friends.
I just long and long and yearn and
yearn.
That everyone in Australia.
But more than that.
I long for each one of you.
To come into eternal life.
And then you'll know the power of God.
In your own life.
Let's pray.
Lord we've had a lovely time.
Just talking about this great verse.
That the Lord Jesus gave us.
We bless thee.
We praise thee.
We worship thee.
We pray for everyone.
That has received in this room.
God's gift of eternal life.
And we can see the evidences of that.
In the faces of the people.
But some of our dear friends here.
Tonight.
Have not yet come into that heart faith.
We pray even tonight.
That some may take that step of faith.
And trust Jesus to save them and cleanse
them.
And to give them the gift of eternal
life.
So that they might know the indwelling presence.
Of the Holy Spirit.
Grant this we pray.
In the name of the Lord Jesus.
Amen.
Now.
Thank you for that good attention.
It's lovely to chat like this.
You know sometimes I prefer just talking like
this.
Than up in the pulpit.
We are so close.
So near.
But dear friends.
If there's anyone here.
And you feel that God has spoken to
you.
And you've not yet come into this heart
faith.
And you feel you'd like to do.
What that dear soul Mrs. Brown did.
And that church elder.
But God has wonderfully used him.
And his dear wife.
We're not asking people to change their religion.
Or anything like this.
We want people right with God.
And then once you're right with God.
You want to be right with the kind
of church.