If you have your Bibles with you, can we turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 2, please? Ephesians chapter 2. I want to thank this church for this opportunity to give my testimony and for your prayers for me, for my health. It's so enabled to do this. Thank you so much. It means a lot to me. Ephesians chapter 2, we'll be reading verses 1 to 9. And you have be quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Where in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. among whom also we all had our conversations in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceedingly riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And we know the Lord will bless the reign of his holy word. But just have a wee word of prayer, please. Father in heaven, I give you thanks for this opportunity to give my testimony here tonight. Thank you for health and strength to be able to be here. Father, we thank thee that for the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to lay down his life as a ransom for many. And that beautiful verse, For God so loved the world, that he give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Father, we thank thee for the people gathered here tonight. Lord, undertake for every need they have. Lord, we all have different needs. Supply that need. Lord, we pray for thy people. Bless thy people. Help thy people to rejoice in their salvation. Undertake, Lord, for the backslidden people who's here tonight. Lord, bring them back to their first love. Lord, we pray for the ones who are on that broad road leading to hell and destruction. Lord, take them from that road here tonight. Lord, by thy power, by thy grace, by thy spirit, save tonight, we pray. cleanse me from all sin, wash me in the priceless blood, that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In Jesus' mighty name we ask, amen. Amen. Many of you could say you know me very well because of being brought up in this church. On the 10th of May 1982, I was born into this world. The blessing that I had, I was born into a loving Christian home. I am the youngest of three boys, and we can all say we were brought up in the love of God, a father and mother who loved us and would do anything for us. Having been brought up in a Christian environment, church life was normal for us. We were brought to church on a Sunday morning, and then Sunday school in the afternoon, and then back to church that night. Then on a Wednesday night, we went to the Children's Beeline meeting. Looking back now, I thank God for the upbringing that I have had and the very good memories that I can recall. Growing up, boys will be boys. If my brothers or I had an accident, my dad would pray for us right away. And that always stood out to me. So today, when my boys have an accident, I would do the same. I want to take this opportunity to thank my parents for the love they give me and continue to give me and for that great blessing in bringing us up in the gospel. Because from an early age we were told that we were born into this world sinners and to go to heaven when we die we must be born again. Maybe at this time I should thank all the Sunday School teachers and children's beeline workers for their love in teaching me the gospel from that early age. I remember Sally Freeburn and June Martin teaching me in Sunday School and our superintendent at that time, Matt Wiley and Linda His wife, Sunday school and church had a great impact on me. And on a young person's life that can have that impact, which money cannot buy. My dad and mom owned a fruit and vegetable shop in Lurgan, which I enjoyed working. And we also lived in the Moranview area. As I was getting older, I was going to different schools. I went to Dixon Primary School, and then I went to Lurgan Junior High School, and then Craigavin Senior High. And to be honest, I hated school. I couldn't wait to get out of it. So at the age of 16, I left school and started to serve my time as a bricklayer. At this time I started to have more money in my pocket and I started to dislike church and have an interest in the things, seeking the things of this world. So I had my first bottle of beer and then I drank as often as I could. First without my parents knowing about it but as time went on I just didn't care about my parents what they thought, as long as I was going out to have a good time with my friends. That's what I cared about. You know, the world promised you a good time. And that's what I lived for. What was a good time? Drink, partying, fighting. I was such a fool. Young people, tonight if you are thinking about going down that road, please stop and look down that road. What does alcohol do? It wrecks lives. I thank God I never touched drugs and I didn't gamble much. There is a verse in Proverbs chapter 20 verse 1, I would always say it in my testimony. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. As my life went on I counted myself a Loyalist, so I joined different Loyalist bands, but the one I loved the most was the Pioneer Flute Band, it was based in Lurgan. The Pioneer Flute Band carried the battle standards of the Ulster Volunteer Force. I always loved that motto for God and Ulster. I really enjoyed being in the band but the sad thing with many bands is the drink culture. There is another verse in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death. I was going down this road of death as fast as I could go, which I didn't care. See, I was dead in trespasses and in sins. And I walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the earth. So I was under Satan's control. And as time went on in my life, I got deeper and deeper into the things of this world. The wild holidays and all the partying and sin that I was involved in. I can say that I caused my parents a lot of grief and heartache over them years. I caused my parents' house to be raided by the police. I got into many situations that involved the police. I'm not saying all this to say, look how bad I was. I'm telling you it because that's where sin leads you to. You know, I was fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And as that verse goes on to say, and we're by nature the children of wrath, even as others. You might be thinking now, I was a wild man. And yes, I was. You might be thinking also that, you could be thinking, saying to yourself, well, I'm not as bad as you. I'm not a sinner like you. But the Bible makes it very clear that we're all born in sin. In Romans chapter three, verse 23, it says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You might be a clean living sinner, but you're still a sinner. And you're on that road to that place the Bible calls hell. That's why you need Christ to save you. A good thing happened to me that I met my wife, Anne. And after some time of going out with each other, we rented a house out in the Moranby area. We can say that we lived very wild lives. We partied every weekend. I called it my party house, which it was. After a while, we were expecting our first child, Kyle. So we decided to buy a house in the Wernestown area. Just after Kyle was born, I would have had received death threats against my life. the police would have come round to tell me that my life was in danger. I remember sitting with my son Kyle and he was in the Moses basket and I was hiding him behind the chimney breast just in case someone would fire shots through the window. We had to think about security, bulletproof windows, security cameras, even a bulletproof vest That was the lifestyle I had. As we read in verse 4, but God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. God is rich in mercy and I can say that in my life and throughout my life. I always had a godly influence. I thank God for praying parents and also different Christians that came into my path. I remember Reverend David Sinton, who has gone home to be with the Lord. I remember him coming onto the building site to speak to me. And he gave me his testimony on how he became a Christian. And he spoke to me in that real nice way. I even went to church one night for him. I can say that he had a love for me the sinner. Then I went to work with a bricklayer many of you know and I called him Uncle Jim. Jim Russell who was a member of this church. I can say Jim was a good Christian man. He spoke to me in the right way even though he knew how I was living. But I remember one Monday morning going into work and I said to Uncle Jim that I'd put all the drink in the bin and asked him, are you proud of me? He answered me by saying, Sam, you'll be back on it at the weekend. You need the Lord to save you. And he was right. Less than a year after our son Kyle was born, we had our second son, David. And shortly after that, we got married in Lisbon Free Presbyterian Church. I was always soft towards the gospel. I knew it was the truth, and I really believed in, for God, an Ulster. I knew the gospel, but I didn't want to live it. I wanted to live my life the way that I wanted to. I remember going into the Coach Snake Club, In Banbridge, a man handed me a gospel tract. In it, it said, would you be ready to face God, compare yourself with the Ten Commandments? That tract had a great impact on me. As I went down them Ten Commandments, I knew I was a great sinner. At the time, my life was a mess. My wife and I weren't getting on too good. and sin was bringing misery. As time went on, the things of this world were not giving me the same pleasure they once did. I didn't have the same satisfaction I once had. And as God had it, I went to work for a Christian builder. And there was another Christian man there called Stephen. He invited me to a gospel mission in Ballanderai where the Reverend Thomas Martin was preaching. At the time I didn't go to church much because every time I went to church I came out of the meeting feeling convicted, knowing that I wasn't saved. But I went to that mission and I brought my mother with me. That night the Reverend Martin spoke on Genesis 6 verse 3 where the Lord said my spirit shall not always strive with man. I came out of that meeting under deep conviction. On the way home that night I stopped at a petrol station and I was walking round and round I couldn't think about anything else only the state I was before God. I was thinking I'm not ready to die. And the fear of death came over me very powerfully. And I knew where I was going. I knew I was going straight to hell. I knew the Lord was speaking to me that night. I was fighting to keep tears away. I can say my sin was in front of me. I was so miserable with my life. I felt my life was going one of two places. I was going to end up in prison, or even worse, dead. As I got home from a meeting that night, my state of mind was that I needed to be saved. But when you start to think that way, there's a battle that goes on in your mind. Satan puts all sorts of things in your mind, maybe your past sins, or maybe your sins that you're involved in now. The devil might say, how can you get saved? Look at the mess you've made with your life. Or he might be saying to you, yes, sometime you can get saved, but not now, some other day. As a battle was going on in my mind, I remember really wanting to be saved. But sadly that night, you could say the devil won. But I will tell you how that night I got some sort of peace, some sort of relief. I remember walking up and down my hallway at home, knowing that I needed to repent of my sin. But as I was walking from the hallway into the kitchen, I could see my cameras and I was waiting for the Reverend Thomas Martin to come to lead me to the Lord. See, in my mind, if God wanted to save me, Thomas would come and then I would give my life to the Lord. Thomas didn't come. And that's how I got my peace. The Lord mustn't want me. Of course, Thomas didn't know how I was feeling. But do you see, the devil will try anything to try to stop you from coming to Christ. When I was growing up, I really loved my granny. We were very close, and she was a Christian. But on the 22nd of July 2008, I was with her in the nursing home when she had died. I had watched her take her final breath. Her death hit me very hard. You know, when death comes to a family, it puts life into perspective. It gets you thinking about the afterlife, what comes after death. But again when you start to think that way about getting saved, the old certain steps in with all his lies. I recall one night a close family friend was speaking to me. He is a Christian and he would have invited me to church and he would have spoke to me about the things of God. He knew how I was living and that night he said to me, seek and you shall find. I prayed to God that night, I said, Lord, show me the way. If you're God, show me the way. See, I was crying out for peace with God. The world was not giving me the peace I needed. And as time went on, I thanked God that he was still convicting me. And on Saturday, the 13th of September, 2008, my life was going to change forever. It was a sorry night, so I had to have a drink. But that night, I can say my head was in a mess. The conviction that night was so strong. I just wanted to get so drunk, just to forget about God. So I phoned up my mates, I booked a taxi, and then I went to the off-license to buy a bottle of whiskey. And then we ended up in the Bonneville nightclub. In the Bonneville nightclub, I was so miserable. And we got the taxi home. And as I was walking up to my house, I needed to talk to someone about God. So I phoned my mom up. Bear in mind, it was probably 2, half 2 in the morning. But I phoned her up to talk to her about God. And then, after talking to her, I reached my house, and I have a front garden wall, so I sat down on it, and the Lord spoke to me. It was by the word of God. In John 14, verse 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. I can say there was no flashing lights, it wasn't an audible voice, but it was the word of God that I learnt as a child. The Lord had answered my prayer by showing me the way. So I went into my house and I got down on my knees and I cried unto the Lord to save me, and he did. The Bible says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The first person I had to tell was my wife. So I went into her bedroom to tell my wife. But I wanted to get my Bible out of the cupboard first. Anne was sleeping. I thought Anne was sleeping but she wasn't. She thought that I got into a fight again and to be honest she thought she was expecting something else to come out of that cupboard. It certainly wasn't the Bible she was expecting to come out of it. So I went over to her and I said that I got saved. But to be honest she thought it was the drink talking. But my next stop was my dad and mum's house, so I took my Bible and I went outside. And you know, I remember putting the Bible up in the air and feeling the burden of sin lifted from me. Feeling free. So wonderful. I went round and told my parents the great news that their son had got saved. You know, that night I had to give my life to the Lord. In my heart it was my last opportunity. Again, the Lord says, my spirit shall not always strive with man. The question can be asked, is God's spirit striving with you? And if it is, do not resist, because it could be the last opportunity. The Holy Spirit speaks. I can tell you in my life what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. And verse 2 of that hymn says, I have ceased from my wandering and going astray since Jesus came into my heart. And my sins, which were many, are all washed away since Jesus came into my heart. Now I want to tell you of these changes the Lord has made in my life. I am a new creature in Christ. I'm ready for heaven. Maybe you think, if you become a Christian, you might have a born life. But I can tell you, life will only start when you get saved. But I don't want to mislead you here tonight. Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean to say all your problems will go away. But through the problems, the Lord will be with thee. Because the promise is he'll never, never leave you, nor forsake you. My wife was pleased that I was a Christian now. Because there was no more death threats, police wasn't coming to the door. There was no more bar fights. I wasn't getting arrested anymore. But the devil was starting to use her against me. She wouldn't come to church with me. I brought the boys to church myself. And she was going out more and more at the weekends. And to be honest, that wasn't an easy time for me. But I prayed for my wife. And after two years of praying for her, the Lord answered my prayers. And again, God has made a big change in our home. We are in Christ together. God has made this big change in both our lives. We are both members of this church. and we have been blessed with three boys, which two of them are saved, and we pray for Noah. He too will be saved early in life. This change is real. It is so good to be saved and to know that every sin that I have done is forgiven. As Hezekiah said in the book of Isaiah chapter 38 verse 17, for God has cast all my sins behind his back. What a wonderful thing to know that God has cast all my sins behind his back. I can tell you that I am not some super Christian because I'm not. I do let the Lord down. And remember this, no Christian is perfect. I tell you, please don't look at Christians because they'll let you down. Because we're not perfect. We're only, we're a sea of sinners. We're a sea of sinners. Christ is perfect. We're not perfect. I love my Saviour, I love my Redeemer. He is my Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. Dear Christian, rejoice! As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed your transgressions from you. I thank the Lord when he saved me. He gave me a desire for the unsaved. and my friends, especially in loyalist circles I moved around in. So the Lord gave me a desire to run gospel missions in Orange Halls where the Lord did move in them meetings by saving precious souls and we just praise God for that. We just thank this church for all the help you have given by prayer and financial help. This church means a lot to Anne and myself, and the people that are in it, for the kindness that you have shown. We just thank you so much. In September 2014, as many of you know, my health went downhill. I ended up in hospital two times, but God's hand was upon me. God has done miracles in my life. One such time I was at work and I got hit in the head with a three ton mini digger bucket. Which only by the grace of God I'm here today. I can tell you that life has been hard in the last two years. I have took a condition called fibromyalgia. which can be a life changing condition. What is fibromyalgia? It is a long term condition that causes pain all over your body. People with fibromyalgia may also have extreme tiredness, muscle stiffness, and extreme tiredness, muscle stiffness, problems with sleeping, memory, concentration problems, and headaches, and much, much more. It is estimated that one in 20 people has the condition. I can tell you that it is a hard condition to deal with, but I thank God for the love and grace that he's given me for helping me through this. I have had lots and lots of tests done on me to see if there's anything else wrong. And with all these tests being done, there is a lot of worry, not just for me, but for my family also. My second son, David, was asked to write down in school their Christmas wish list last year. and he put in that I wish my daddy was well and I can say it brought tears to my eyes. For me this is a terrible condition to deal with and my fibromyalgia friends can back me up in that. You know I have pain all over my body from head to toe. When I wake up in the morning I feel like some people have been hitting me with baseball bats all night. The pain never leaves. me but, and for me I can say a lot of things in my life has been stripped away from me. But I thank God that he has never, never left me nor pursued me. I can tell you if I didn't have my faith in God, I would be in a very dark place. And I can understand why so many people who have fibromyalgia and who would get depression. I have to tell you that I get my hope from the Bible. from the word of God. God knows all that I'm going through. And many a time, the pain gets very severe, and the tablets seem not to work. But, and you know, what I do, I would cry unto the Lord. And he hears and answers prayer. You know, I believe that I'm closer to the Lord than ever. I do get my comfort from the Bible. In Psalm 32, verse 8, it reads, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which I should go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Sometimes in life, you just don't understand. Why this, Lord? Why am I going through this? That's why, Christian, we have to read the Word of God. We have to read the Bible. And when we do, the Lord speaks to us with comfort. which no doctor can do, no counsellor can do. The word of God does it. You know, the verse in the Bible, in Psalm, trust in him at all times ye people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah. Even when Clifford asked me to give my testimony, I just broke my wrist. And then a few days later, I was rushed to hospital thinking that I was taking a stroke. And as I got to Gragavin Hospital, I was very worried because I went to take a drink of water, and it spilled all over me. And my face began to look a mess. But as the nurse was taking blood from me, God spoke to me through his word. In Psalm 46 verse 1, God is a refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. And you know, the peace of God came in and I was happy and contented. That's what the word of God does. Later, They diagnosed me with Bell's palsy which my left hand side of my face dropped and my tongue was numb. My left ear was sensitive to noises. Then for a few weeks I had to drink using a straw and I couldn't smile and I couldn't eat properly. I remember coming home and just going up the stairs and just crying on to the Lord and I can tell you the bed was wet with my tears. You know some things are hard to understand because since my illness I had had to stop giving my testimony in meetings and I was booked to preach as well and I had to stop that because I just didn't have my health and strength to do so. And that was hard to understand, but the Lord has answered my prayer regarding Nabil's palsy. My face is back to normal and God has answered a lot of my prayers. There's just not enough time to tell you here tonight. In James chapter five, verse 13, it reads, Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing Psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The Lord led me to call for the elders of this church to pray over me and anoint me with oil. And I can still remember some of their prayers that night. And you know something, the Lord has answered some of them powerfully. And I really do mean that. Yes, I know that I'm not healed from fibromyalgia and ME, but I have to accept it might not be God's will to heal me from this, and it might not be God's will to heal me right now. But He will give me the grace that which I need to deal with it. We have to accept the Lord's way is perfect. When the Lord Jesus Christ was on this earth, just before he went to the cross, he said to his disciples in John 14 verse 27, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Before I stop, I want to give you an illustration. Just imagine you're walking towards a cliff's edge. But as you're walking towards the cliff's edge, you cannot stop. You're getting closer and closer to that edge. You have to do something quick. So you have an axe in your hand to put it in the ground to stop you from going over the edge. And the name which is on that axe is called Good Works. You put it into the ground, but it comes out again. It doesn't hold. You see another axe and it's called, do the best you can. You try that and that doesn't hold either. You try another one called religion. You put that into the ground, but that doesn't work. But there is another one, one more. But you're not too sure to go for that one. That one is called being born again. What does it mean to be born again you could ask? It's simply believing that God sent his only begotten son into this world to die on the cross for your sins. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered more than any man. has ever suffered. The Bible says that he was marred more than any man. That means he was unrecognizable. He gave himself an offering for sin. Why did he do it? To reconcile you to God. See, the Bible says your sins has separated you from God. Your sins has separated you from God. You're God's enemy because of sin. And only be repentant of your sin and saying sorry to God and by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. The Bible puts it well. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So what would your answer be what axe would you choose? That cliff represents the place called hell or the lake of fire where all the unbelieving goes. In the book of Revelation chapter 20 verse 15 it reads, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That is a powerful verse. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Tonight, I want you to ask yourself, is my name written in the book of life? He redeemed my life from destruction, and I know He can save you too. I am praying that God will give you the grace to come to Him tonight. And if you want to speak to me or Clifford or any of the elders, please do so. Tonight, make your peace with God. It could be your last chance to make your peace with God. Think about that. Don't try to clean your life up because it doesn't work. I tried to put the drink in the bin. I knew what the alcohol was doing to me, but it didn't work. I was back on it at the weekend. See, I couldn't break the power of sin. Only Christ can break the power of sin. Remember that. Only Christ can satisfy the soul. Only Christ. And please, This could be your last chance tonight. We don't know what's on tomorrow. That's why the Bible says, you must be born again now. It's accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. You're not promised tomorrow. You're not promised another five minutes or another minute. That's why you have to come to Christ now. And I plead with you in closing now, I plead with you to think of what I've been saying. and to come to Christ. That's my plea to your soul tonight. Thank you for listening. I'll call Clifford now to close the meeting. Thank you. I'd like to thank Samuel for that clear word of testimony. He has made it clear to you that you need to be saved. There's a couple of verses in the Bible over in the Song of Solomon, where the daughters of Jerusalem, who are a type of the world, are a type of the ungodly, and they say it to the bride, who is a type of the believer. What's so different about your beloved compared to our beloved? That's just paraphrasing it. An everyday speak word, it just means, what makes your beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, or Samuel's beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, which you've been talking about, what makes him so special compared to the beloved that I have? Well, what makes him so special is he was God. My beloved Jesus Christ was God. And he came down into this world of ours. He didn't have to come, but out of love for sinners. He set aside his glory and he came down into this world and he became a man. He took upon himself a human body. That was God. He took upon himself a human body. And the reason he took that human body was because as God he couldn't die. So he had to die as a man. And he went the whole way to Calvary, and there in yonder tree, he died the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Can your beloved do that? Maybe your beloved's the drink, maybe it's drugs, maybe it's your motor car, maybe it's your work, maybe it's money, maybe it's your religion, maybe it's your loyalism. Maybe it's your church, but my beloved is Christ. Because he's the only one that can take away sin. And he took it away by the sacrifice of himself. And if you're not trusting in that beloved, then the beloved you have will take you to hell. I thank our brother Samuel for such a clear testimony. And we pray that tonight will be the night of your salvation, and someday in the future you can testify just as he has. That's closing prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this time spent in your presence. We believe, Lord, that you're here. You've promised to be here, so we believe you are here. And we believe that you've been speaking to men and women in this meeting. And we pray, O Lord, that you will continue to speak to them until they surrender all to thee. Whether they're backslidden, or whether they think they'll go on with thee, but they're backslidden in their hearts, or whether they're not yet saved. We pray, O Lord, that this will be the night when they surrender all to the Lord Jesus. We pray, O Lord, for the food that is provided. We pray that you'll bless it and the bodies of those that will partake of it, and bless those that provided it. Part us now in thy fear and with thy favour. In Jesus' precious name we ask it. Amen.