From Greenville, South Carolina, we present Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of Faith Free Presbyterian Church, preaching Christ in all His fullness. We welcome you to another broadcast of Let the Bible Speak. In a few minutes, Dr. Alan Cairns will continue a message entitled, The Walk and Worship of a Man of God, part of a series dealing with the life and experiences of Abraham. Genesis 12.5-13.4 records Abraham's arrival in the land of promise, where his first act was to build an altar, symbolizing the cross of Jesus Christ. Yet this man, who is called the father of the faithful, demonstrated a disappointing lack of faith by going down into Egypt rather than trusting God in a famine. Yet God protected Abraham and Sarah in spite of their willfulness and brought them back to the altar at Bethel. In the course of this message, Dr. Kearns is focusing on Abraham's belief in God's promise, which first brought him out of paganism into the land of promise. Then, in a meditation on the meaning of the altar, Dr. Cairns emphasizes the importance of believers staying near the cross. It is when we fail to maintain a constant sight of the cross of Christ that we fall into backsliding and misery. Dr. Cairns will continue this message shortly. First, here's a devotional thought from the pen of the great 19th century preacher C. H. Spurgeon, as found in his collection called Faith's Checkbook. Our devotional for today is entitled, A Completed Sacrifice. The text is Leviticus chapter 1 and verse 4. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. If by that laying on of his hand the bullock became the offerer's sacrifice, how much more shall Jesus become ours by the laying on of the hand of faith? my faith that lay her hand on that dear head of thine, while like a penitent I stand and there confess my sin. If a bullock could be accepted for him to make atonement for him, how much more shall the Lord Jesus be our full and all-sufficient propitiation? Some quarrel with the great truth of substitution. But as for us, it is our hope, our joy, our boast, our all. Jesus is accepted for us to make atonement for us, and we are accepted in the Beloved. Let the reader take care at once to lay his hand on the Lord's completed sacrifice, that by accepting it, he may obtain the benefit of it. If he has done so once, let him do it again. If he has never done so, Let him put out his hand without a moment's delay. Jesus is yours now if you will have him. Lean on him. Lean hard on him, and he is yours beyond all question. You are reconciled to God. Your sins are blotted out, and you are the Lord's. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised on the cross for all my sin. He bore my sorrow. All of sin's penalties were laid on Him. A babe was born in Bethlehem Why this little town? For the King of kings and Lord of lords To leave his heavenly crown Born in a manger low A king, how can it be That he came to earth in humble form? He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised on the cross for our sins. But sin's penalties were laid on him On the cross of Calvary, my Savior bled and died. Paid in full sin's awful debt, for me was crucified. Worthy is the Lamb of God, I'll serve Him all my days. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised on the cross for all my sins. Since penalties were laid. You're listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We've been greatly encouraged by the response to these broadcasts. Your words of appreciation and support mean a great deal to us as we seek to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. From time to time we're able to offer various of our publications to those who request them. We're pleased to announce that the newest edition of Let the Bible Speak quarterly magazine is now available. The principal focus of this issue is the Prophet Daniel. There are five articles written by various ministers of the Free Presbyterian Church dealing with such subjects as glorifying God in an ungodly world, Daniel, a man of prayer, and the prophet's visions. Also, this issue commences a series of articles about the founding fathers of the Free Presbyterian Church. In this issue you'll read about the life and ministry of Dr. Ian Paisley. You may have a free copy of the magazine simply by asking for it. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. That's Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. You may email us at ltbs at freeprez.org. That's ltbs at f-r-e-e-p-r-e-s dot o-r-g. Or you may telephone us toll free at 866-877-ltbs. That's 866-877-5827. Also, if you enjoy the program, you might like to visit our website, LetTheBibleSpeakRadio or LTBSRadio.com. Don't forget the word radio, LTBSRadio.com. In this connection, we'd like to call your attention to a new feature on the website During recent months, Dr. Cairns has been receiving questions from both believers and non-believers regarding various issues, such as, are there true prophets in the church today? Or, why does God allow suffering? The LTVS radio website now contains video clips of Dr. Cairns providing answers to these and many other questions. These video portions are listed under Q&A with Alan Cairns. You're sure to find these presentations to be informative and enlightening. Q&A with Alan Cairns is found on LTVSradio.com. So, I. The cross must be for us what the altar was to Abraham. The cross must be my altar of thanksgiving. It must be the place where pride is leveled in the dust. Where self-opinion and self-worth are brought to nothing before God. And where I cry out with Paul the Apostle, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. It must be my altar of thanksgiving. How many times at the communion table and other times as well, I've had you sing Seth Sykes' moving chorus, Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. When I come to the communion service, when I come in the place of prayer to the place called Calvary, that's the expression of my heart. It must be, Thank You, Lord, for this mighty altar. Thank You, Lord, for this mighty finished work of Calvary. Thank You, Lord, for a sacrifice of blood, for the outpouring of the love of God in Jesus Christ. Thank You for the agony and the blood and the tears of my Redeemer. Thank You for satisfied justice. Thank You for free salvation. I can glory in nothing but in the cross of Jesus Christ. It must be my altar of testimony. Paul, as he thought of Calvary, said of himself that he was always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, what is that? that, to use the Savior's word, is taking up your cross to follow Christ. When Christ's cross becomes my cross, when the scandal of Calvary is a scandal I am willing to take upon myself, then it is a cross and an altar of testimony. And of course, it must be my altar of trust. I come to the cross and I look at this mighty sacrifice, this gift of God. And this is how I must reason. I must reason as Paul did, by faith. In Romans 8.32, He that spared not his own son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? The cross, my altar of trust, for the cross is the guarantee that He who gives grace will with that grace give everything else right up to and including glory. According as His divine power, says Peter, hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. The second element in the walk and worship of a man of God. Like Abraham, he believes the promise. Second, like Abraham, he lives at the altar. But we come back to the Old Testament patriarch to notice a sad and tragic and terrible thing. And here our hearts must be smitten because we note that Abraham wandered away from the altar. We read in chapter 12 and verse 10, there was a famine in the land. Then those fateful words and Abram went down into Egypt. Abraham allowed the pressure of circumstances to drive him from the Lord. Now, his situation was extremely grave. The famine was grievous in the land. But as I indicated earlier, Abram should have been on his face before God, who had brought him thus far. But he panicked. There's not a mention of an altar in the journey south. There's not a mention of a prayer meeting. It's amazing, you know, when you turn to Scripture to see how great men of prayer fail to pray at the critical moment. You remember in our studies in the book of Acts when we were looking at Paul and Barnabas, they blazed the trail for God. They were the greatest missionary team the world has ever seen. They saw churches established, sinners saved, the devil put on the run. God was glorified. These two men and their souls and their lives knit together. They were blazing onward for God as an unstoppable jewel. until the devil brought an argument between them. And they argued like two cats on a yard wall. The one thing they didn't do was pray. Not a word that these two great apostles stopped to ask God, what should we do? And they paid for it. They paid for it. And so did Abraham. And so must we. It's sad when Christians stop their fellowship at the altar. It's more than sad. It's tragic. It's tragic when Christians get into situations and they substitute policy for prayer. When they plow into situations knowing, as Abraham knew, if I go on this way, I'm going to be put in a place of compromise. He knew that, but he went on ahead anyway. He was running away from one disaster, famine. And he ran straight into a bigger disaster that made the famine seem like a Sabbath school picnic. Can I put it to you very simply, my friend? And I speak to every Christian here, and I speak to me included. No Christian can avoid falling and backsliding unless he maintains his fellowship at the altar. Clarence McCartney, one of the last great Presbyterian preachers in this country likened a Christian to an aeroplane. He said an aeroplane is completely unlike any other mode of transport we adopt. You get in a car, you can stop it right mid-journey. You can reverse it. If you watch what you're doing, it will do you no harm. If you're in a horse and buggy, you can stop it. But if you're in an aeroplane, that aeroplane either goes on to its destination, or it has disaster. It can't stop in mid-air, and it can't reverse. What a parable of the Christian life. The Christian, called of God, directed of God, with the promise of God, must keep on keeping on. No turning back. You'll be like an airplane falling out of the sky. That's what happened to Abraham. That's what has happened to all too many Christians. The Bible warns us in Isaiah 30, Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me, that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin, that walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth. Isaiah 31 says the same thing. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Let me stop here. Let me invite you to open your heart to the Lord tonight. Christian, have you done what Abraham did? Have you been like him? An aeroplane, as it were, falling out of the sky because you've gone back down into Egypt. Forsaken the altar. There was a time in your life when you were consumed with the cross. When you spent time around the altar. When you loved the Lord your God with all your heart. When you served Him. When the precious blood of the Lamb was the theme of your song. The famine struck. Trouble came. The pressure of life. The pressure of business. Whatever. You've compromised your testimony. You've gone down into Egypt. You thought it might help. It's only for a while. It's only for a little while. But that little while is stretched on and on and on. And tonight your heart is cold. You're shamed in God's presence. Compromise of the world is always wrong for a Christian. Believer, don't sell your testimony for the pleasures of the world. or for the treasures of the world. Be very, very careful here. Remember, if Abraham could backslide, so can you. And if you have followed him already into backsliding, you know the bitter loss. This is the mark of a genuine backslider. You know, there are so many so-called backsliders, and the trouble is they were never frontsliders. They're still unregenerate, condemned, hell-deserving, hell-bound sinners. And they need to be converted. Most of the so-called backsliders need to be saved. The mark of a genuine Abraham in Egypt is this sense of the bitter loss of treasured blessings. Gone is the pleasure of prayer. Gone is the joy of salvation. Gone is the power of your personal testimony. It's a sad state. But thank God there is an answer. Because I love the beginning of Genesis 13. Abraham returned to the altar. You've been listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We hope that you've enjoyed and benefited from today's program. We are here as your servants for Christ's sake. If we can be of any further help to you in the things of God, we invite you to contact us. If you would like to receive our booklet, A New Beginning, a booklet that sets forth God's way of salvation in clear, concise, and biblical ways, you may have it free of charge simply for the asking. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. That's Let the Bible Speak. 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina 29615. If you wish, you may call us toll-free at 1-866-877-LTBS. That's 1-866-877-5827. You may email us at faithfpc at freeprez.org. That's faithfpc at f-r-e-e-p-r-e-s.org. Also, we invite you to visit our website at www.freepres.org. If you would be interested in considering the establishment of a Free Presbyterian Church in your area, by all means let us know. Once again, you may call us toll-free, 1-866-877-5827. On behalf of Dr. Alan Cairns, this is Charles Kelch saying thank you for listening and inviting you to join us once again as we let the Bible speak.