Now our reading tonight is from John chapter
5 and these are the words of the
Lord Jesus and we're going to read from
verse 17 and Jesus answered them, My father
worketh hitherto I work.
Therefore the Jews sought the Moor to kill
him because he not only had broken the
Sabbath but said also that God was his
father making himself equal with God.
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the son can
do nothing of himself but what he seeth
the father do.
For what things soever he doeth these also
doeth the son likewise.
For the father loveth the son and showeth
him all things that himself doeth and he
will show him greater works than these that
she may marvel.
For as the father raises up the dead
and quickeneth them even so the son quickens
whom he will.
For the father judgeth no man that hath
committed all judgment unto the son.
That all men should honor the son even
as they honor the father.
He that honoreth not the son honoreth not
the father which hath sent him.
Verily, verily, I say unto you he that
heareth my word and believeth on him that
sent me hath everlasting life and shall not
come into condemnation but is part from death
unto life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you the hour
is coming and now is when the dead
shall hear the voice of the son of
God and they that fear shall live.
For as the father hath life in himself
so hath he given to the son to
have life in himself and hath given him
authority to execute judgment also because he is
the son of man.
Marvel not at this for the hour is
coming in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear his voice and shall
come forth.
They that have done good unto the resurrection
of life and they that have done evil
unto the resurrection of their nation.
Now the Lord will bless to us the
reading of his word.
Hmm the question has been put to me
and I believe it's an excellent question.
Can we be sure now of eternal life?
Now there's a proud way of looking at
this.
If a person were to say well I've
lived a good life, I attend a place
of worship, I think I qualify.
That would be a proud way of looking
at that subject or if a person should
say I have been very religious and I've
been christened, confirmed, baptized by a merchant, take
the communion or perhaps take the mass and
therefore I believe I qualify.
That would be a proud way of looking
at it.
Now we want to eradicate that immediately.
But if someone should come and say something
like this, I realized that I was a
worthless sinner and I realized that Jesus Christ
died on the cross for my sins and
I received forgiveness through his blood and I
received the gift of eternal life and it
was all through his grace that I've been
given eternal life.
Then that's the kind of assurance that we
want to speak now.
Now I was sitting down the other day
and I was thinking about this question and
four things came to my mind.
If we are going to be sure of
eternal life, not just life, eternal life, we
must have absolute authority.
Not the authority from a brilliant man, not
the authority of a church, something greater than
that, real divine heavenly authority.
Secondly, we must have true genuine honesty.
We must look at the word of God
and say now what does God say about
me and what does God say about his
son and that demands a sense of honesty.
Thirdly, if we are going to have life
and eternal life, you cannot give yourself life
and you certainly cannot give yourself eternal life.
So it means that we've got to have
total dependency on the giver.
And then lastly, can we be sure of
this security that we have passed from death
unto life and now in this body we
have eternal life, real security.
Now if we can get that, I believe
all of us will get a blessing tonight.
So where's the authority?
Now this is the scripture I'm going to
share with you.
Don't do it because I shall be quoting
it over and over again.
John 5 verse 24, verily verily I say
unto you.
Now we don't use that word verily.
If you went into a modern shop, any
part of the western world and you said
to the man verily verily, he'd open his
eyes and say where do you come from.
He would think you would be a man
from the moon.
It's old English.
In fact it goes back almost two to
three hundred years and we don't use it
today.
The Greek word means Amen.
Amen.
Now that's difficult.
You will notice tonight when I finished that
prayer I said Amen.
What does that mean?
Lord grant it.
And some of you said Amen under your
breath.
Mind you, you should have let it come
out of your breath really so that we're
all together.
So can you see we make a petition
and we say Lord grant it if it
is in accordance with your will.
God never does that.
The Lord Jesus never spoke as coming from
God.
He always spoke as God.
Now that's vital.
Therefore he says Amen.
Amen.
What I'm going to promise I will fulfill.
Now that's authority and it's authority from heaven.
The second meaning of the word is of
a truth of a truth.
Well that can be difficult.
It can be paraphrased truly truly.
Now you will agree with me when I
say it's very difficult for human beings to
speak the absolute truth.
For instance if I told you a story
and you repeated that story you could not
repeat that story verbatim word by word.
You would subtract or you would add.
Not that you want to but because of
limitations.
There are no limitations with God.
And therefore he is the very epitome of
all truth.
The embodiment of it.
In him was the truth.
And therefore when he speaks he speaks with
authority and he says of a truth.
Of a truth.
No one else can ever speak like that
but the Lord Jesus.
And then you can actually translate the word
the scholars inform me by saying listen listen.
Sometimes when the Lord was speaking to the
crowds he would stop and he would say
now listen listen I'm going to say something
that's vital.
In our family there were eight of us
five boys three girls all squashed in a
small three-bedroom house in London.
Four brothers in one room and I could
write a book what happened in that one
room.
When we were going fishing mother would call
us and she would do something like this.
We would all be lined up and she
had rheumatism in that finger and she would
put it under our noses and one eyebrow
would go up one would go down and
she would say listen listen.
Now when mother said listen we had to
listen.
Now that's exactly what the Lord would say.
Listen don't miss this your life depends on
it.
So can you see now we're beginning to
see what authority really means.
I say well I was only thinking this
afternoon the brilliant things that brilliant men have
said.
I remember at school having to learn quotes
from Socrates, Aristotle, the great Greek philosophers, Plato
but I've nearly forgotten them all and so
have you.
Some of us can recall some of the
stirring words of Churchill during the war but
most of his words have been forgotten but
here's a difference.
The words of Jesus are more powerful today
than when they were first spoken.
More people are listening to Jesus Christ today
than at any other time in history.
His words are everlasting.
You see he says heaven and earth shall
pass away but my word shall endure forever.
My dear friends the elements of this book
will be taken into heaven and this is
an eternal book and that's why I want
to sow his word right in your heart
tonight.
So you can see now we're beginning to
see authority.
The word you is lovely.
It can refer to a crowd but I'm
not interested in crowds.
It can refer to group society and families
that's lovely but it can refer to an
individual and I would like to think there's
someone sitting here tonight and the Lord is
going to speak to you personally and he's
going to have a word for you just
as you sit there.
Now listen to the beauty of it.
Verily verily I say unto you you you
he that heareth my word.
Now the words of the Lord Jesus are
divided into two.
There are the light words.
You say what do you mean by that?
The truth words and the love words.
Now it's the truth words that frighten us.
Someone said to me in England an old
Methodist.
He said brother Brandon none of us like
the truth.
Now that's right.
Now can I give you a proof of
that.
I was once staying with a theologian called
Wilcox and he said to me on one
occasion would you like your photograph taken I
said yes.
So I went into his studio and he
said I've got a brilliant German camera and
you know the idea you look everywhere and
think you'll get a good one.
Well when those pictures came back I was
shocked.
Now first of all I want to tell
you it was the absolute truth that it
brought out these eyebrows, the bags under my
eyes, the mole here and I've got a
small mole there and it was just like
me but I didn't like the truth.
We were having tea with another lady and
I shan't mention any names now and we
were talking about this theologian and she said
we used to be great friends but he
took my photograph.
Then she went to the drawer and I
could see she was infuriated and she lifted
the photographs and she threw them on the
table and she said do you think that's
like me.
Well it was a beauty.
It captured everything but you see I didn't
like the truth and she didn't like the
truth.
Now I want to put a question to
you.
Do you think God could tell us lies?
Could those penetrating eyes of Christ ever use
exaggeration?
Therefore when he takes an x-ray of
the human family it's absolutely exact spot on.
He looks at our hearts, the thoughts, the
root of our being and he says that
the heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked.
So that we get to the truth who
would like their thoughts exposed?
Not one of us.
Every single one of us has a lot
to cover and when God looks right at
us he sees our secret sins and he
sees the principles behind them.
In fact he sees the root of them
and he says the heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked.
Then he looks at our actions through the
lens of the Ten Commandments and he takes
off all the commandments we have broken and
this is what he says.
There's none righteous no not one.
Then he makes a sentence and what a
sentence it is.
He says the whole world guilty before God.
Now dear friends I do not want to
say this brutally.
I want to say this in love.
It hurts me to say that if ever
you die in your sins it will be
an unsurpassed tragedy.
You will move into the realm of outer
darkness forever.
Now before a person can be made right
with God he's got to hear that.
Hear the scripture saying to him the wages
of sin is death and he's got to
accept it.
Now some people can't face up to the
truth.
I was feeling unwell.
Then the doctor sent me for an x
-ray.
Then I went to Canada.
Then I had to come back and see
the doctor.
I never forget this.
And he looked at the x-ray and
he said you need an immediate operation.
I almost fainted in the chair thinking I
was fit.
I said sir is it major or minor.
He said major to me minor to you.
Can I have a few hours to think
about it.
Only a few hours.
Now friends I walked the streets of Bedford
as a day's man.
I wasn't jumping for joy.
But then my dear wife said have it
face up to it.
And I went and faced up to it
and that's why I'm standing here.
Now dear friends if you're going to be
right with God you've got to face up
to it.
And that's the first part of the truth
but all the love words.
You listen to this.
God commends his love toward us in that
while we were yet sinners Christ died for
us.
Here's another scripture.
Here in his love not that we love
God but that God loved us and sent
his son to be a mercy seat for
our sins.
That means when Jesus Christ came into this
world.
He came into this world to die and
on that cross instead of us bearing the
punishment of our sins.
He bore the punishment and exhausted it and
said finished and the work is done.
And here's a beautiful scripture listen to it.
Once in the end of the age hath
he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself.
No one will ever have the ability to
love you like Jesus Christ.
He loved you unto death and bore your
sins in his own body on the tree.
But we mustn't leave him there.
This is what I love.
This is what causes me to rejoice when
I preach.
God has raised him from the dead.
Now let me say this again.
I have been lecturing on the resurrection of
Christ in most of our universities in Britain
and I've never heard a good argument against
it.
The resurrection isn't a fairy story it's a
glorious fact and therefore Christ has been raised
from the dead and he is the universal
saviour and his longing to forgive you and
come into your heart tonight.
That's the hearing part.
Now let's get the believing part.
And believeth on him that sent me.
Now here's a strange thing.
Do you know in my own country I
know people who have heard those facts for
30 years and they've never really believed.
If you went up to them after a
meeting and spoke to them and said don't
you believe that you're a sinner.
Oh yeah.
Well don't you understand that if you die
in your sins God can't have you in
heaven you're lost.
Oh yeah.
Don't you realize that Christ came into the
world to save you from sin.
Yes.
You believe that.
Yes.
And don't you realize that he died on
the cross for your sins.
Oh yes I believe that.
Well why don't you trust him and receive
him.
Don't know.
You see they're so near.
They believe it all but they've never come
to the heart meaning of this word.
Now forgive me worrying you with the Greek
it worries me sometimes.
But the word believe comes from a brilliant
Greek word called pisteo and it has three
meanings.
To know what you believe so that when
you become a Christian you never commit intellectual
suicide.
You know the facts.
You trust what you believe.
And then thirdly you are totally abandoned to
the thing that you believe.
With both our boys we had trouble with
swimming and our first holiday was at a
place called Frinton.
Frinton on sea.
Lovely sand there.
Not as good as yours but a lovely
place.
It was Monday morning and we couldn't get
to the sea quick enough.
We had a little beach hut.
You don't see many of them here but
crowds of them in England.
And we undressed and the boys were rushing
to the sea.
Now would you believe it.
Before we went on holiday they were showing
their mother all the strokes they were going
to do in the sea.
They got the life belt they put it
round them and then they got their tummies
on a chair and they were doing the
breaststroke then the crawl and then they would
turn around and do a backstroke and it
all looked good.
You see they knew all about it but
when they got to the water old father
Neptune and it's cold there I can assure
you you need to take a hot water
bottle with you.
And when they got to the water fear
gripped them.
I could see it.
Come on boys.
The life belt was all around them.
They knew all the strokes.
Then I said come on boys and we
got them thigh deep, chest deep.
Now I said take your feet off the
bottom and all I could hear was no
no no.
Do you know we spent the whole holiday
trying to get them to take their feet
off the bottom.
Knew all about it.
The life belt all around them but wouldn't
give themselves to it.
And then I did something that was wrong.
Now in my family there's a streak of
Jewishness.
I offered them a half a crown to
do it and they wouldn't do it for
that.
I couldn't understand it.
Well the next holiday we went to Frinton
and would you believe it we had the
same kind of agony.
And we saw our boys sitting on the
circumference of the sea with the life belts
all around them and all the other children
splashing in the water.
Why?
They wouldn't take their feet off the bottom.
The third year I didn't worry about them
and I was sitting in an old-fashioned
deck chair.
You don't see them in Australia I don't
think.
Reading CHM on Genesis.
It was lovely.
There I was in this book and all
of a sudden I saw my elder boy
running up the beach.
Now you know when a child's excited his
hair speaks, his eyebrows speak, everything speaks and
he was dancing around me like a charismatic
and he was saying done it.
I said what have you done?
He said I've taken my feet off the
bottom and it works.
The thrill of it.
The last holiday we had together was in
Lux.
My wife and I went out a quarter
of a mile.
That was our distance and our two boys
went all the way to Millport.
Three and a half miles and it started
when one took his feet off the bottom.
That's it.
There comes a moment when you stand before
the Lord Jesus in all his risen power.
The one who hung upon the cross for
your sins and he calls you to believe.
He doesn't want head nodding knowledge.
He wants this heart faith where you say
Lord I'm going to trust you now to
forgive me and come into my life and
it's that act of faith taking your feet
off the bottom that brings you into eternal
life.
Now could I stop and ask a question.
Are you prepared to do that now?
Don't wait for the end of the meeting.
Now would you mind if I spoke to
certain individuals.
I won't call the name but there are
individuals here almost there.
I believe there's a young woman here tonight
and you've had this head knowledge all through
your life but you've never taken your feet
off the bottom and trusted him.
You may be even breaking bread but you've
just got this head knowledge.
It's not this heart faith.
Get right tonight.
Now there's some of you who have come
every night and you're almost there.
What he wants you to do now switch
off from me.
Bow your head and say Lord Jesus at
this moment I'm going to ask you to
save me and come right into my life.
I'm going to trust you.
I'm taking my feet off the bottom.
Right there God will meet you and give
you eternal life.
And then lastly and with this I'll close
and believe it on him that sent me
has everlasting life.
Now what does that mean?
Now already we have dealt with the subject
of life and we have noticed that eternal
life is the life of the Lord Jesus.
In him was life and the life was
the light of men.
Again John 17 this is life eternal that
they might know thee the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.
And therefore when a person comes into possession
of eternal life it's the Lord Jesus living
in them.
Now we come to a problem.
How can the Lord Jesus as a man
of God's right hand live within us?
That's what some ladies said to me in
the heart of London about two years ago.
How can he be up there and down
here?
Well he has sent the Holy Spirit and
the Holy Spirit of God is in this
building tonight.
Now please do watch this.
What God wants to do in your life
right now is to cleanse you and he
wants to cleanse you through the precious blood
of Christ.
That doesn't mean to say he takes you
and washes you in blood but through the
cross of the Lord Jesus this gives God
the right to righteously forgive you.
And when he forgives you he forgives you
on the grounds of what Jesus did on
the cross so it's a once and for
all forgiveness.
And once you have been forgiven into your
life there comes the Holy Spirit and you
have within your life eternal life and that's
the greatest gift of all.
You know when I look at Christians here
there are at least at least 80 people
here tonight who will never never die.
Physically they may die but the person within
them will go on living forever and absent
from the body present with the Lord.
One of the most wonderful things I've ever
seen was to see old Grandad Tryon die.
He was the first man to lack root
to Brooklands and win it for Napier and
he did that for seven years running.
And then in a crash he called on
the Lord to save him and he became
a beautiful Christian.
And at the age of 86 he knew
he was going and we watched dear Grandad
Tryon and it was lovely to see him
passing out of his body right into the
presence of the Lord.
Why?
He had the gift of eternal life.
So can you see the beauty of this?
He that heareth my word and believeth on
him that sent me has everlasting life and
it's a gift from God.
But now I must close.
I believe there are some here and you've
been leaving the service because you've been nearly
every night.
You have been home and you have been
pleading with the Lord to save you but
you haven't got through.
Isn't that right?
And then you come again and you hear
the message and it spurs you and you
say right I'll try again and you kneel
down and you ask the Lord to save
you but you don't get through.
Well about 15 years ago I was having
house meetings in Glasgow and most of the
people were from the Church of Scotland and
may I say this they were delightful people.
Now can I repeat that?
They were delightful people and I was there
for about four Tuesdays and one day I
spoke on sin, the next time I spoke
on the Lord Jesus and the cross and
then I spoke on the resurrection and then
I spoke on reception.
Whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
And then the mission went on and so
I had another Tuesday.
So I said I want all those people
to come next week who really do want
to believe and give the Lord this heart
faith and four turned up.
One lady had to go.
One man was the elder in this local
church the other lady was his wife and
there was another lady that we might call
a VIP and she came to this meeting.
And then I said to them I'm not
going to speak to you.
I want you to tell me how you
reacted to my message.
So the elder was the first one to
speak.
He said when you spoke about the fact
that we were all sinners and we had
broken the commandment I was upset.
But he said I did my homework.
I got out the ten commandments and as
you said I looked at the sermon on
the mount and I discovered you were right.
We have sinned many times and I realize
I'm guilty before God and inwardly I said
praise the Lord.
You see you can't become a Christian till
you understand that.
Then he said the night you spoke on
the cross.
Well he said it was like a revelation.
I said what do you mean?
Well he said I've been helping the minister
with the holy communion.
We have it three or four times a
year and I've taught the people Christ died
for our sins.
But he said it dawned upon me he
died for my sins.
My sins put him there.
I said do you understand that?
Yes he said I understand it now.
Forgive me saying this.
Inwardly I didn't tell him.
I said hallelujah that's divine revelation.
But he said Mr. Brandon I've got a
problem.
He said when you gave me that verse
whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord.
I went home asked the Lord to save
me nothing happened.
And he said I've been calling upon the
Lord all the week to save me.
Now I felt sorry for his wife.
She looked and she said Herbert why didn't
you tell me you were going through this?
I've been through it and I've been calling
upon the name of the Lord in a
separate room.
I didn't want to upset you but nothing
happened.
And would you believe it this other lady
chipped in and said well I can't understand
this.
This is what I've been going through.
She said and I've been asking the Lord
to save me.
But nothing seems to happen.
And so I got a little excited.
And I said this you're almost there.
You probably may be in.
But two things are vital.
You've got to trust Christ.
And trust his word not your feelings.
His word.
I said would one of you like to
read the scripture.
Well the lady that we're going to call
a VIP she said I'll read it.
So she took off her glasses and she
put on her reading glasses and she read
this verse just like this.
Verily verily I say unto you.
Would that refer to me when I read
it you.
He that heareth my word.
Well we've heard that haven't we.
And believeth on him that sent me.
Oh I see it.
What's that?
My faith isn't great enough.
No I said.
It's not a great faith in a little
saviour.
It's a little faith in a great saviour.
Oh.
Believeth on him that sent me.
Hath everlasting life.
And she turned to the elder and she
said this.
Well I do hope I've got eternal life.
I said you haven't got it dear.
Why not?
Well his saying has.
You're saying hope.
You're not believing him.
Oh she said can I read it.
I said if you like.
So back went the glasses and she read
it like this.
Verily verily I say unto you.
I've got that.
Then she looked up and said could that
refer to me.
Yes.
He that heareth my word.
I've heard that.
And believeth on him that sent me.
I do believe.
Hath everlasting life.
And she turned to the elder and said.
Well I do sincerely hope I've got it.
And he was staring.
I said you haven't got it dear.
The Lord is saying has.
And you're contradicting him.
You're making him a liar.
He says has.
Now I said it's not the word that
saves you.
It's the Lord Jesus that saves you.
And you've got to get hold of him.
Now I said you've got to believe his
word.
Do you know what she said.
Would you let me read it again.
I said if you like.
Back went the glasses.
And she almost stared through the pages.
And this is how she read it.
Verily verily I say unto you.
That's clear.
He that heareth my word.
That's clear.
And believeth on him that sent me.
Lord I do believe.
Hath everlasting life.
And shall not come into condemnation.
But is passed from death unto life.
And with a long face she said.
To the elder.
According to Jesus I've got it.
I said say that again.
With a long face.
According to Jesus I've got it.
I said say that again.
According to Jesus.
I've got it.
Thank God she says I've got it.
Now have you got it.
She trusted him.
And his word.
And passed into everlasting life.
And so did the elder.
And so did his wife.
The room was filled with holy joy.
Oh may God bring you all.
Into that blessing.
Right now.