I'd like you to turn with me this evening to the Acts of the Apostles, turning to the Acts of the Apostles and to the eighth chapter. except lately through Skype. That's a big help, we see one another a bit more often now whenever Skype's working. And then maybe at the weeks of prayer, but nevertheless we're just glad to be here and to see everyone once again. I bring you greetings from the church in Port Hope. Last week, or this past week, it has been our church week of prayer. We have a week of prayer in February, and we'll have another week of prayer in September. And folk knew that I was coming here. So every night, the Leeds Summit Church was prayed for, and your minister, and this weekend of meetings. So a lot of prayer has gone up, and we do rejoice in that, that we know that we have left Port Hope with the backing of the prayers. of the people of God there in my congregation. And no doubt they'll continue to pray for us while we are here. It was a very straightforward flight. I hope it's the same going home. But arrived at the plane, got on the plane and there's only 11 people on it. So the stewardess says, do you want to move? I said, certainly. So I got up about the center of the plane. There was nobody beside me or over the aisle, nobody in front of me, nobody behind me. And it was just wonderful. So I hope it's like that on the way home again. It'll hardly, but we'll hope to that end. So we're glad to be here, more than delighted to be here. And we regard Port Hope Church and Lee's Summit Church to have a great affiliation. In many ways, we're in the same battle with small congregation. We have our ups and our downs and our discouragements and our encouragements. But with the Lord's help and His grace, we'll just keep pressing on. So we're glad to be here tonight, and I'd like you to turn to Acts chapter 8. And this is all about the church in Jerusalem. And I trust that it will be a word of encouragement for us all as we see what took place there. But we're turning to Acts 8 and verse 1. And Saul was consenting unto his death, that is, the death of Stephen. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. So we see the apostles remained at Jerusalem. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house And healing men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. Amen. We'll end our reading there at that verse 8 with the earnest prayer that God will add as blessing to the public reading of His own holy and infallible Word. Before we consider the Lord's Word for our hearts tonight, let us look to the Lord in prayer. O loving and gracious God, In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy beloved and only begotten Son, we bow in Thy presence this evening. We plead the merits of His blood. We plead His name tonight. For the Lord Himself has said, For whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do. that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And, O Lord, it has been our prayer that tonight and in thy will tomorrow that Lord the Father will be glorified in the Son. We pray, our God, that no man shall be seen but Jesus only. We pray, our God, that it will be taken up with Him and we shall see him whom our soul loveth. And we shall be like John the Baptist who rejoiced when he heard the voice of the bridegroom. Lord, may we all hear the voice of the bridegroom, for we'll never hear a sweeter voice. We'll never look into a lovelier face. We'll never behold a kinder individual. a more loving individual than Jesus Christ. So, our God, come and shut us in with Thyself this Saturday evening. We thank Thee for all who have come. Lord, we know for many of us there was a time in the distant past when Saturday night would have been the last place we would have been in the last thought of being in the house of God. would have been in some of the dens of iniquity. But we thank Thee for grace, the grace that has saved us and the grace that has changed us. Praise the Lord. Now, Lord, come and put Thy blood upon the meeting tonight. Bind a strong man. Fill me, Lord, with the Holy Ghost. And help me, Lord, to preach the Word. And in so doing, Lord, Help me to preach Christ and make much of His blood in the Savior's precious and all-prevailing name, I pray. Amen. The first three verses of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, Now we read about Saul who was consenting unto Stephen's death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church of Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the region of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, He made havoc of the church, entering into every house, healing men and women, committed them to prison. The enemies of the gospel may have silenced one voice when Stephen was cruelly stoned to death. But the God who will never leave himself without a witness And the God who was never taken by surprise was already preparing to raise up another who, we might say, would take Stephen's place. And where would that chosen vessel be found? Why, he would be found amongst that crowd who had risen up against the church at Jerusalem. This chosen vessel would come from among the ranks of the haters of the gospel. We know that Saul of Tarsus played his part in the murder of Stephen. Look there at chapter 7 and verse 58. And they had stripped themselves of their clothing, in verse 58, and cast him out of the city, that is, Stephen, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. He's described as a young man. And already, as a young man, he's in the wrong company. He's running with the wrong crowd. He is with those whom Paul himself later described as those whose feet are swift to shed blood. And many young people have been led astray by simply getting into the wrong crowd and running with the wrong crowd and getting into mischief. And before they know it, they are deep in sin and in trouble. It is important that young people stay out of the bad crowd. And the blood that was shed was the blood of an innocent man, a holy man, a godly man, a man called Stephen. But none of those things really concerned Saul at that time. For it says here in Acts 8 and verse 1, And Saul was consenting unto his death. He was consenting. The word means more than just being in agreement. The word consenting there means to take pleasure in. So you can see where this crowd or the company that Saul was keeping, where it was taking him already as a young man. He was taking pleasure. In the death of Stephen, he was delighted to see the stones rain down upon this praying man of God. He was delighted to see his bruised and battered and bleeding flesh. And what a wonder is this, that God could take such a cold, callous, cruel, religious fanatic as Saul of Tarsus, and turn him one day into a marvellous trophy of grace. What else could do that? Who else could do that? None but the grace of God. And that's why we love to sing marvellous grace of our loving Lord. Grace that exceeds our guilt and our sin, yonder in Calvary God's Lamb outpoured blood for our cleansing and peace within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater, praise the Lord, than all my sin. No wonder John Bunyan called it grace abounding. No wonder John Newton called it amazing grace. What else can you say about the grace of God that saves a wretch like Saul of Tarsus, and made him a theologian, and made him a missionary, and made him a mighty preacher of the Word. Saul was persecuting the church. But in the meantime, He and others were making havoc of the church there in Jerusalem. And that leads us to consider, first of all, this church in Jerusalem was a smitten church. This chapter opens with the words, at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was a Jerusalem. It was a smitten church. And we can see how it was smitten in a variety of ways. First of all, we see that it was a time of trouble for this church. No sooner had the new church in Jerusalem been planted in the city when a host of gospel haters rose up against it. This has always been the strategy of the devil, always been the strategy of Satan and his cohort. We live in a world where the spirit of Antichrist is already at work. Whether it is in the Old Testament or in the New or in present day, the wicked adversary wants to, if he can, pull up by the roots that which God has planted. We have known that in Port Hope. I'm sure you have known it here in these summits. There are the enemies who want to destroy the church. Here no sooner had the Lord brought His chosen people out of Egypt, when you think of it, God's enemies were right there to trouble them. You turn to Exodus 17, and you'll see there they've come out of Egypt. And we read in verse 8, then. You can underline the word then. Then, just then, came Amalek and fought with Israel and Rephidim. Just then. Also, he used the same strategy against the man who was born blind. The very day he was saved and his eyes were opened, we are told that the Pharisees came and reviled him. casting him out of the temple. John 9, verses 28 and 35. Casting him out of their company. You would have thought they would have rejoiced that this man had been delivered by the power of Christ. But no, this is the devil's work. We should always know the enemy and never be taken in by the enemy. For you can be sure where God is doing a work by His grace, Satan will come immediately and attempt to undo it. Which, of course, he can't. Praise the Lord. He will trouble the new convert. He will put doubts in his mind. He will attack him. He will afflict him. Likewise the church. And I'm sure the church here in Lees-Summit has gone through attacks of the devil. just as we have as well, all in an attempt to destroy the work and to bring it down and to halt the onward march of the Church of Jesus Christ. It was His plan for the Church of Jerusalem. It was a time of trouble. It was a time of tragedy. It's all affected the Church of Jerusalem. Tragedy because one of their choiceless members had been taken from them. Stephen, whose life, labours and light shone so brightly, and yet that light was suddenly extinguished in a most cruel manner. The devout man carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. Can you imagine what That was like for the church in Jerusalem, how they felt. No doubt they wondered, how will the church ever recover from this loss? How will the church ever recover from this heavy blow? Just as it was when John the Baptist was murdered. What would the church do? Think of elsewhere. Think of the congregation in St. Peter's Church in Dundee in Scotland. St. Peter's Church in Dundee, Scotland was Robert Murray MacShane's church. Eleven hundred of a congregation. Holy MacShane died in his thirtieth year. What a loss! What a loss! And I'm sure many of the saints there wondered, How are we ever going to get over this loss? And here the church in Jerusalem was smitten with a tragedy, the death of Stephen. It would appear, of course, that Stephen wasn't the only one who died a martyr's death, Acts 26, verses 9 and 10. You see, the enemies of the church had tasted blood, and they were thirsty for more. was the intention of the enemy to silence every sore of the good seed of the gospel. But sure, they attempted that during the days of the great Protestant Reformation. And the Church of Rome rise up against God's servants who came out and preached out against Rome. And they tried it then in the days of the Reformation. They beat them, they battered them, they burned them, but God still built His church. And that's what we ought to remember down through the centuries. Tragedy after tragedy has affected the church of Christ and individual congregations and maybe wrung our hands, Maybe somebody has left, maybe a family has left the church and we said, oh, what are we going to do now? We'll never recover from this. Oh, we'll recover, alright. The Lord is the builder of this church. And that's what we should remember, Matthew 18 and verse 16. The Lord said, I will build my church. He didn't say, I will try. or I'll do my best to build the church. He says, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The gates of hell shall not stop the onward march of the church of Jesus Christ. That's what those words mean. The forces of hell may endeavor to impede the advance of the church and the gospel witness, but hell shall not prevail. And so for the smitten church, it was a time of trouble, it was a time of tragedy, and it was a time of terror in the church of Jerusalem. Saul, along with others, was terrorizing the church of Jerusalem. We see that from verse 3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and healing men and women, committed them to prison. Note that word, havoc. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church. That word is only found here in the New Testament, not found anywhere else, just used. with reference to what Saul was seeking to do to the church in Jerusalem. The word havoc means to destroy. Now you get the picture. That is what Saul had set himself to do, to destroy the church. To wreak havoc, yes, but to destroy the church. The word has its equivalent in the Old Testament, in the Psalms, where it is used of the laying waste of a vineyard by a wild boar. Psalm 80 and verse 13. In this case, the wild boar was Saul. The vineyard was the church at Jerusalem. And the intention was to destroy it and lay it waste. Surely he wouldn't have been the first to attempt that, but also to fail. Turn over to Acts 12. Acts 12. In the opening verses there, now, the devil's using Herod. Now, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hand of Vax Certain of the church and killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And because he so had pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then, with the days of unleavened bread, And I'm sure once again the church is wondering, what are we going to do? James has been slain. One of our choice servants has been imprisoned. How is it going to do the same with him? And the devil again is at the same dirty business of seeking to destroy the church. But look down at verse 24 of the same chapter 12. But the Word of God grew and multiplied. The Word of God grew and multiplied. And again, at a later time, evil spirits sought to do harm to the witness of the church. And we read in Acts 19, verse 20, grew the Word of God and prevailed. And dearly beloved, tonight the church in Lees Summit will prevail. The church in Port Hope will prevail. The church in Port Hope, before it became a free Presbyterian church, was a Baptist church. And their pastor left them. Left them high and dry. He said, next week will be my last. And he left and half the congregation left with him. And what was left didn't know what they were going to do. One lady in the church from Northern Ireland was familiar with the Reverend McClelland in the Toronto church. She mentioned to one of the men, Why don't you contact Mr. McClellan and see if some of the lay preachers there would come and fill the pulpit? Because they'd asked other Baptist churches, nobody was interested. And so the congregation in Toronto looked after the church, supplied the pulpit for about six months. And the church was constituted as a free Presbyterian church in October of that same year. But the people who left with their pastor, you know what they said? They said, we'll give you three months. You'll not be able to survive without us. We'll give you three months. Well, it's been a long three months. That was 18 years ago. You see, the Word of God mightily grew and prevailed. God will build His church. What power has Satan against the arm of omnipotence? He has no power. What power has Satan against the Word of the Living God? He has no power. What power has Satan against the Gospel of Jesus Christ? He has no power. Let Satan trouble the Church. Let Satan bring trouble and tragedy upon the Church. Let Satan terrorize the Church. The Church will still be triumphant. It must be triumphant. It is His Church. It is God's Church. He is the Head. And the Lord will build His Church. And what power does the devil have against the gospel of Jesus Christ? He has no power. For the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. It's still the power of God. Now, I know there are men today, and they occupy pulpits, and they don't believe that anymore. No, they don't. They don't believe that anymore. I'll say a little bit about that later. So by persecution, the church was an attempt made to destroy the church. So the church in Jerusalem was a smitten church. The church in Jerusalem was also a scattered church. Satan always oversteps the mark. And what he meant for evil, sure God meant it for good. It shows you the Lord is in control at all times. You look there at chapter 8, verse 4, Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. And here we see God's providence. Don't we believe in a sovereign God? We see the persecution that was designed to destroy the church and lay it waste was by the overruling providence of God used to extend and to enlarge the church and her witness. So rather than the church being destroyed and laid waste, rather than the church closing down in Jerusalem, it spread its wings. The very opposite took place because God is still in the throne. Remember what happened in Acts 2? We're all familiar with Acts 2. the day of Pentecost. In Acts 2, verses 1-3, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and sat upon each of them. And remember this all followed a season of prayer. See what happens when God's people pray? Things happen in heaven when God's people pray. You recall the Lord Jesus at His baptism. And we are told that at His baptism He prayed. And while he was praying at his baptism, the heavens opened. The Spirit of God descended as a dove. And the voice was heard from heaven, the voice of the Father, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You see, things happen when God's people pray. Things happen in heaven. When they happen in heaven, then they happen down here upon earth. And there in the church in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, the fire of heaven fell upon the church. And Saul and his cohorts thought by persecution they could extinguish that fire over here in Acts 8. But by persecuting the church, no, they didn't extinguish the fire, they spread the fire. Remember when I lived at home with my three brothers, we lived in the country. And we always liked to go into a wooded area and probably shouldn't have done it, but we always liked to light a fire. You know how it's strange how children are always attracted to fire and to water. But anyhow, we always lit a fire. When we were out there playing and then we'd hear my father call us in, It didn't happen to have any water with us to extinguish the fire, so we'd go and get branches and start beating the fire. Well, you know what happened? The fire spread. Sparks went here and sparks went there. Little fires were started over here and little fires were started over there. They tried to do the same with the church in Jerusalem. They only succeeded in scattering the fire and spreading the fire. What does it say in verse 4? They that were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word. There's a verse in the Psalms we should not forget. And what has God done? Listen, Psalm 104 and verse 4. This is what God has done. "...who maketh his angels spirits His ministers a flaming fire. And who was scattered abroad? We read there it wasn't the apostles. They remained in Jerusalem. But we are told in verse 4, Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Those in the church who were preachers They were the ones who went everywhere preaching the Word. These were men full of the Holy Ghost. These were men of fire for God. You know, that's something that's been very much on my mind for some time. But that's what we need. We need to be filled with the Holy Ghost. I think because the charismatics have so distorted the teaching on the fullness of the Spirit, that many Christians tend to shy away from it. You talk about the fullness of the Spirit, you think, oh, you must be a charismatic. Be ye not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. That was Paul's words to the congregation in Ephesus. Be filled with the Spirit. And as I say, this has come home to me more and more in recent months. That is what is needed today. Ministers who are filled with the Holy Ghost. Filled with the Spirit. Matthew 3 and verse 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." We need the fire of heaven. That's what we need in our churches. And the man that is filled with the Holy Ghost will be a firebrand for God. I don't know if you know much about an Ulster preacher called W.P. Nicholson. W.P. Nicholson was a sailor living that rough life. He was just a rough sinner. He had a Christian mother who prayed for him often. He had been witnessed to by his mother many times. And one day he was home and he was sitting at the fireplace. And he turned to his mother and he says to his mother, I've got some news for you. She says, what is it? He says, I got saved. Where did you get saved? Just there now, sitting in front of the fire. became a mighty preacher. My grandda often spoke about him. Nicholson became a mighty preacher. He lived in a town called Bangor, seaside town, county town in Northern Ireland. One day he was in Bangor and the Salvation Army were having an open air. And they recognized Mr. Nicholson and they called him over. He wasn't that keen about going because this was his hometown. And they had a man playing a big drum. And they used to call him Daft Jimmy. And Daft Jimmy beat the life out of this drum. And they came over and he stood there with those who were speaking and those who had been singing. And then those in that little group said, we're going to get down now on our knees here in the street and we're going to pray. That was the last thing Nicholson wanted to do. It was market day in the town. She had an idea what the streets were like. But Nicholson got down on his knees with the others and prayed, and Nicholson later testified something happened to him. Because from that moment on, he was a changed man. God had filled him with the Holy Ghost. And Nicholson became a mighty preacher, led thousands to Christ. Preached in America and Canada. Nicholson, some would have said, was a very uncouth individual. Some pulpits Nicholson wouldn't get into today. even though he has more fire in his soul and more love for souls in his heart than the preachers who would keep him out of their pulpits. That's what is needed. That's what happened to Nicholson. I could go on and tell you more about Nicholson. He was conducting a gospel campaign once in a certain town and this woman and her husband would put Nicholson up and He would sleep in their home. And this night he told them, he says, don't wake me in the morning or don't come to the door in the morning. And the lady came with his breakfast and left it outside the door. And ten o'clock went by and eleven o'clock and twelve o'clock and one o'clock and the breakfast was still there. He eventually came out. Took the breakfast, went up into the kitchen. The lady of the house then had an opportunity to go down to the bedroom and fix the bed. When she went into the bedroom, she couldn't believe what she saw. The bedsheets were torn into ribbons. Nicholson had spent the whole morning in prayer. agonizing over souls. And he was in such agony for souls, he didn't realize what he was doing. He didn't realize he was tearing the bedsheets. That's what we need today. We need Spirit-filled preachers. Men who will preach with the fullness of the Holy Ghost and with Notice also, you have God's, not only God's providence, you have God's preacher. God's servants went everywhere, we are told, preaching the Word. It's always a good idea to bring the Word with you wherever you go. And God's preachers began spreading the Word. And one in particular is singled out for special mention as a preacher of the Word. Verse 5, then, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Now, as God used Philip and others to spread the gospel, I want you to notice something. I want you to notice the method of spreading the gospel. We're told that those who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. The Lord raised up Saul of Tarsus later to be a great theologian, to be a great missionary, to be a great church planter. But he made it clear that above all else, God had raised him up and made him a preacher of the Word. Look at 1 Corinthians 1. You're probably familiar with these words. 1 Corinthians 1. And there we read in verse 17, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness. The point is, the Lord raised up Paul to be a preacher. And he didn't go before the people and preach with the enticing words of man's wisdom. Paul was an intellectual. You never would have known it when it comes to us preaching. He says we preach Christ crucified. What is the point? What is the point in wanting people to think you're an intellectual if they don't understand a word you're saying? You need to preach like Christ. Isn't that what the officers of the Pharisees said when they were told to go and arrest Christ? And they came back empty handed? And they asked Him, have you not brought Him? What did they say? Never man spake like this man. What had happened? Christ had arrested them with His preaching. And how did Christ preach? We are told, the common people heard him gladly. Common people. The ordinary Joe in the street, as we would say the ordinary five-eighths. People who didn't have a great education. People who never went to university. People who were fishermen. beggars. The common people heard him gladly. No, sinners aren't saved by programs and pantomimes and plays. They're saved by the art of preaching. That's how they're saved. Saints are built up in their holy faith by the preaching of the words. Churches are established through the preaching of the Word. The gates of hell are shaken. Satan is put to flight. How? By the preaching of the Word. What do you have today? I'm sure it's the same down here as up in the Great White North. It's not so white this time. But what do you have? You have churches where there's a stage but there's no pulpit. Pulpit has been removed and replaced with a stage. There are churches where there's an actor on the stage instead of a preacher. There's a band there now instead of a piano or an organ, all have to get the band in. People will not come unless you have a set of drums and cymbals and all the rest of it and a row of microphones. You have a comedian in the pulpit now instead of a minister. I remember before my wife and family and I emigrated to Canada, I was preaching in different churches down in the States. There weren't three Presbyterian churches, but they were separated churches. And I remember being given a tape recording of a certain preacher. Now the tape recording wasn't of his preaching. The tape recording was of the jokes that he would tell before the service started to get the people warmed up. You know what they do in theatres? It's an abomination. That's a long, long way from being reverent in the Lord's house and remembering we are in the presence of Jehovah. What do we need today? need to pray, God will raise up preachers. I mean preachers. I mentioned W. P. Nicholson there. Nicholson said some rare things in the pulpit, but that was his language. And it is well known. He used to preach in the Ulster Hall in Belfast. seated over 2,000 people. About a mile and a half, two miles away was the shipyard. And the shipyard workers would get out at five or whatever it was. They didn't go home. They marched to the Ulster Hall in their overalls, in their working clothes, blackened and have photographs of the shipyard workers making their way to the Ulster Hall and filling the Ulster Hall. Many of those shipyard workers were saved. So many of them. And it's still standing today in the shipyard in Belfast. There's a shed there they had to build. after a Nicholson mission, because so many of the shipyard workers got saved, and they returned all the things they had stolen out of the shipyard. And they returned so many items, they had to build a shed to hold all the items. I tell you, that's preaching. That's what it is to preach with the fullness of the Holy Ghost. I know that God would give us those days again. And He can. We need more Whitefields. We need more Luthers. We need more Spurgeons. We need more Machines. We need more Bonners. We need more preachers. We don't need new methods. We don't need new methods. We need the preaching of the Word. And I've said that I don't know many times to my congregation in Port Hope, and we're small. But I've said we'll stick to the well-tried pathway. There's no removing of the ancient landmarks. The Bible will be in the pulpit, and by the grace of God, the Bible will be preached. And I know people don't come to our church because of that. You don't have any programs. Strange, isn't it? You'd love to hear them come and say to you, do you preach Christ in this church? No. What programs do you have? So you have a good program, it really doesn't matter much about what's coming out of the pulpit. And that's true, I've seen it. This isn't a carried story. What was the method? Preaching. Give the message. I love the message that Philip preached. He was preaching the Word and preached Christ unto them. Praise the Lord. Why would he preach anything else? There's nothing else worth preaching. Nothing. Why would we want to preach anything else? For there is only one message that is worth preaching. There's only one message that will change men's lives, and change homes, and change towns, and change villages, and change cities, and that's the preaching of Christ. It's the only message. The Lord has told us Himself. In my heart, this Word spoke to me a number of years ago. I'd always sought to preach Christ, but this really emphasized it. The Lord said in John 12, in verse 32, I am I. Be lifted up from the earth. I will draw all men unto Me. The only thing the Lord asks us to do by His help and His grace is to lift Him up. I, if I, be lifted up from the earth, as though to emphasize it. I, if I. The Lord was as if He was saying, Now be careful. Don't preach anything else. I have I be lifted up from the earth. I will draw all men unto me. And it's the preaching of Christ that breaks the power of counseled sin. It's the preaching of Christ that sets the prisoner free. It's the preaching of Christ and His blood that can make the foulest clean. and praise the Lord, His blood avails for me, and it still avails, then it has lost its power and it never will. We must preach a sinless Christ, a substitutionary Christ, a sacrificial Christ, a saving Christ, a sympathizing Christ. He must be preached to the born and the free, the Jew and the Gentile. He must be preached to the living and the dying. He must be preached to whether it is in season or out of season. Preach Christ. I remember a number of years ago we had a family coming to the church. They got saved in the church. Six months later the pure woman, the mother of three children, she died of leukemia. She left a tremendous testimony behind her. And we had a... church was packed out that day. Some people couldn't get in. It's an opportunity to preach Christ. In the middle of the message, this woman's own mother, a neighbour, got up, stamped out in a rage, and said, I didn't come here to listen to this. And out she went. Someone has said, preaching of Christ makes some people glad. Preaching of Christ makes some people sad. Preaching of Christ makes others mad. You know you've hit the target. Whenever they get up and stamp out We must be prepared to preach to sinners, self-righteous sinners, deep-dive sinners, poor sinners, wealthy sinners. We must be prepared to preach to saints, weak saints, strong saints, back-slidden saints. Christ is the answer to every need. You go into these Christian bookstores today and what do you see? Shells of how-to, how-to, how-to. How to live peaceably with your wife. How to love your husband. You know this old nonsense? Everything we need to know is there. It's all there. When people have problems and difficulties, the answers are there. You don't need any how-to books. It's all there in the book. You preach Christ and Christ is able to solve every problem. He's able to carry every burden. He's able to meet every need. That's why you just keep at it and keep preaching on Christ. Press on quickly and we see here the power of God. Why have so many today abandoned the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Why are so many ashamed of the gospel? Why? It's the power of God, of salvation, to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And Philip, as he preached the gospel of Christ, He witnesses power first hand. Look at verses 6 and 7. Look at it carefully. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Verse 7. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them. Preaching of Christ, where does it strike first? It strikes the first blow at uncleanness. The unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of them that were possessed with them. The unclean were made clean. How? By the preaching of Christ. That's the gospel. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what the gospel of Jesus Christ does. It makes the unclean clean. It cleanses the unclean heart, the unclean soul. the unclean mind, the unclean life, the unclean tongue, the unclean mouth, and the unclean home. Our villages, our towns, our cities would be cleaner places. Like the city of Samaria, the gospel of Christ was preached there. Look, not only was the cleansing of lives, did the cleansing of lives take place, but we notice what a change the gospel made when we read in the verse 7, And the unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many. that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were cleansed. Lives were completely changed. And what a change the gospel of Christ makes. What a change the gospel of Christ can make in a person's life. I believe many here tonight, if not all, can say what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. I have light in my soul for which long I had sought since Jesus came into my heart. Floods of joy are my soul. like sea bellows roll, since Jesus came into my heart. I'm not sure if I told the story before, but for this I'll close. I was a Free Presbyterian Chaplain in the infamous Mays Prison just outside Belfast. I would go there most Sabbath mornings before the service, our own church service, minister on to the prisoners there. We were only allowed to minister on to those who registered free Presbyterians. It doesn't mean to say they were free Presbyterians, but they would register as free Presbyterians and then that would mean they would get to our meetings. There was one man there, he was called Bobby Bates. He was called Basher Bates. He was a member of the Shankill Road Butcher Gang. The Butcher Gang at the height of the Troubles in Ulster would go out at night in a black taxi. Another man drove the black taxi. Bobby would go with them and drive into Roman Catholic areas and if they saw a man walking up the street, well it was in Roman Catholic areas so it wouldn't be a Protestant walking up the street, so they would stop the taxi and they would grab him and pull him into the back of the taxi and slit his throat and throw him out on the street. That man was found guilty of thirteen murders. And he believed he committed many more. Bobby came to our services. I always remember he had this droopy moustache. He was never clean shaven. He had hair, straggly hair like rat's tails, you know. He was never tidy. And then one Friday night, I was in for the Bible class and he came over to me before the meeting started and he says, could I have a word with you? He says, my granddaughter Stephanie is seriously ill in the Royal Hospital. Would you pray for her? I said, Bobby, I'll go and see her. So that's the way it was. I went and saw her the next day. I received a phone call Monday from another prison in Belfast, the Crumlin Road prison. And I was asked to go to the Crumlin Road prison because Bobby Bates wanted to see me. So he had been transferred out of the maze into the high security prison on Crumlin Road. Now the last time I saw Bobby was on the Friday night. The long hair, droopy moustache, never clean shaven. And the other prisoners feared him. They feared him. Because he was head of the UVF. And he could have put his finger in any one of them. And there was no telling what would have happened even in the prison. They feared him. So I was in the Kremlin. I didn't have the same liberties in the Kremlin Road prison but shown into the waiting room. And after a while I could hear Bobby coming up the corridor. And he was saying good morning to all the guards. Well that was something I'd never heard before. But he turned the corner into the room and he had a Bible under his arm. He had his hair cut. He was shaven. He was smiling from ear to ear. He had got saved that weekend. And the change, I've seen changes as you have and people through conversion. You've noticed the change, but I have never in all my years of ministry seen the change, such a change that took place in Bobby's life. It's what the preaching of Christ can do. It's what the gospel can do. Let us pray that God will raise up more preachers. We don't need actors, we need preachers. We don't need comedians, we need preachers of the word. and the Lord bless His Word to our hearts.