myself into a little trouble. Of course, I'm always in trouble, and so a little more doesn't really matter, because I entitled this message this evening, The True Gospel of Riot. I was approached by certain people, And they said, we don't like that title. It gives a wrong impression. I said, when you come and listen to the message, you will find that the title absolutely fits the message. I'm going to preach tonight upon the second verse of the second chapter of I Thessalonians. Paul was a great man. Paul was an extremist. That's why I like him. He was a real extremist. You know, I often picture John Mark, young man going and a great missionary champion. You had met John Mark in Jerusalem. He would have said, do you hear where I'm going? No, where are you going? My uncle Barnabas, the great Paul, once saw the persecutor. We're going on a great missionary cruise here. How wonderful for you, John Mark, to go with such a mighty man as the apostle and as your own uncle. And everything was well. They went to an island called Cyprus. And Paul really preached. And there was a riot. And there was a man there who was a leader in the land. And he rebuked Paul. Paul rebuked him. Called him a child of the devil. My poor old John Mark Blake. I can see him blinking when Paul said that. He says, that's extreme talk, Paul. Paul said, once more, I'm going to strike you with blindness. You're not going to see for a long time. And so he did. And poor John Mark got on the boat to go to Asia. And I can see him sitting down in his little cabin. And he said, if Paul made such trouble on an island, what will he do when he gets to a continent? He says, I'm going home to my mammy. And when he arrived, when the boat berthed, he went along the docks and he got a boat back to Jerusalem. And when he got home, he said to his mother, he said, Mammy, I have to come home. Paul's an extremist. I don't know what will happen to him. And you know the story of Paul's ministry, don't you? Well, you know, this text of Scripture is written relevant to Paul's great triumph at Philippi. Oh, there was great trouble at Philippi. He had a riot at Philippi. In fact, everywhere Paul went, there was trouble. He was a troublemaker. You could imagine a church committee or elders inviting Paul for an evangelistic campaign, and one old fellow saying, do you think, brethren, it would be wise to bring Paul? Would it be wise to bring him? After all, you know the type of man he is. He calls people children of the devil. Oh, my brethren, we couldn't have that in our pulpit. We wouldn't like a man like that. And then he usually gets a jail sentence when he goes to attack. And there's usually a riot. And there's often an earthquake. And there's always trouble. And there's always disputes. Why don't you know what happened when he went to one place, the whole town turned out, and they threw dust in the air in their anger, and they nearly tore them from limb to limb. I don't think we should have this man for our campaign. I wish Paul came to Belfast. I would be glad to do curate to him any day. I think of Paul going to the General Assembly. There wouldn't be many hairs left in hair when Paul had finished with them. Sure there wouldn't. No. I don't think Alfie would have his buckles when Paul had finished with them. He was a great preacher, Paul. And you know what he says in this verse? My, this verse has burned itself into my heart. He says that he preached. We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God. Mark it with much contention. Much contention. That's very strong, isn't it? He says, after that we have suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as you know at Philippi. You know, there are three things in this text I want to talk about. First of all, there's the gospel's relationship to God. Paul preached The gospel of God. I want to talk about that this evening. The gospel of God. Secondly, there's the gospel's reaction in man. My, when the gospel's preached, there's a reaction. And there's a chain reaction as well. It goes on. I was preaching in Larne Town Hall, or Orange Hall this afternoon. They were giving the Town Hall a facelift, so we were in the Orange Hall. I suppose we had 300 people at the afternoon service. The East Antrim Times, it belongs to the Telegraph, and my subject was Ulster's Crisis. So they didn't like it, and they changed it to Ulster's Crisis. That's what they had in the paper. Must have thought I was going to have an auction or something. But you know, when I made the appeal, a fine young man sitting there with a whole lot of other young men, puts up his hand, tears in his eyes, came right out for the Lord. We have five people gloriously saved. And he said to me after he was saved, he says, you know, my brother is saved. He's a member of the Free Presbyterian Church. He's right here. And there was his brother standing rejoicing. You know, the Gospel has a reaction in there. Something happens when the Gospels preach. And I want to talk about that this evening. And I want you to look, too, at the Gospels revival of the preacher. Something happened to Paul. through this gospel. He was beaten, imprisoned, scourged, shamefully untreated. And when He arrives from the trouble in Philippi, He is bold. It says He is bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God, the gospel's revival of the preacher. Let's think of the gospel's relationship to God. It's called the gospel of God. I wonder why. It's the gospel of God by origination. That's why. Before the gospel had its reception in my heart, It had its inception and conception in the heart of God. This gospel is not of man. It didn't come out of some theological seminary or cemetery. It came from God Himself. It's the gospel of God. The old Puritan wrote, he said, God thought it. And God the Son, He bought it. And God the Holy Ghost wrought it. And the devil fought it. But thank God I got it." He was right, the old Puritan. It originated in God. I want to tell you something. If you are going to be saved, it is God that is going to save you, brother. Man can't save. Ordinances of man can't save. Rituals of man can't save. Schemes of man can't save. But God can save. They can save. Not a change. God cannot break. My wonderful God. This gospel is the gospel of God. The way in eternity before the world was thought of, before man came on the scene, or the scene for man to come on was ever created. The way out yonder in the grand, mysterious, unknown, unfathomable, into my finite mind a noble eternity. God thought upon us long before time began. I was part of the plan. The gospel of God by origination. God thought it out and purposed it and planned it and conceived it. The gospel of God by origination. It's the gospel of God by incarnation. The gospel of God in origination, that's the work of the Father. The gospel of God by incarnation, that's the work of the Son. One day the invisible God became visible. One day the unseen God was seen of angels. That is a great word that Paul writes, isn't it? Seen of angels. Angelic eyes could never behold the infinite, eternal Jehovah. But there was a day when God was seen, when the Word became flesh, and there was a great excursion out of eternity into time. When God the Son came to fulfill in His body all that the Father had purposed in eternity, one day when heaven was filled with His praises, one day when sin was as black as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of the Virgin, dwelt among men, My Redeemer is He. It's the gospel of God by incarnation. And I want to tell you something else. It's the gospel of God by demonstration. It's the work of the Spirit of God. What did Paul say in Romans 1 and 16? The gospel is the power of God. The power of God. What a gospel we have. Think of it. A church with a gospel like that having a jumbo sandwich. Think of it. A church with a gospel like that having a domino dinner. Think of it. Think of it. Or having anything! Oh, that we might! One man came into this church, an old modernist from Scotland. He wrote us up in a scurrilous Magazine, and you know what he said about it? He said, all that's in Pearsley's church is preaching. They're always preaching. He said, at the opening service, they're preaching on preaching on preaching on preaching on preaching. I said, hallelujah. And he said, there's a big, big pulpit in that fellow's church, and all they do is preach. That's what the gospel's about, friend. It's about preaching. It pleases God through the foolishness of preaching to see of them that believe. May God keep us at the preaching. Keep at it. And things will happen. And they are happening. It's the gospel of God by demonstration. I was preaching last Saturday week in a place, Port-au-Prince. A young fellow came up to me. He said, My father and brother are in there. They're getting sealed. Do you remember when I came to the Lord? Well, I couldn't remember. I can't remember everything and everybody. He says, I got sealed. And Mr. Pearsley, I prayed for them. They're getting sealed now. My, he was really delighted. And when the father and brother came out, gloriously seen, they said, do you know what the father said? Just one more and the family's complete. Isn't that what it should be? That's the demonstration of the gospel. But I want you to notice the gospel's revival of the preacher. I'm sure you know the story of Paul. He went to preach in Philippi. And you know what happened. The devil attacked him. And that devil possessed woman. My, the devil's a bad, bad, really bad when you meet them in trousers. But when you meet the devil in a skirt, you're in trouble. You are indeed. And old Paul met the devil in the skirt. And she went really after him. Yes. Really after. Oh yes, I've met the devil in a skirt before today. You're not preaching very long until you meet the devil. I've met the devil in carnical clothes too. You meet the devil in all sorts of shapes and sizes. But old Paul at a rough time, and that woman walked after him when he was going to pray. And she insulted him! And she mocked him! And she scorned him! He was shameful! And treated! Nothing gets into a man's spirit more than insults. You know, John Calvin was the most insulted of the Reformers. He preached such a high standard in Geneva that a section of the Geneva city did everything to assault him. They used to call their very hounds by the name of Calvin and take them to the door and beat them in front of the preacher's house. and call all sorts of names over them to insult the preacher. Yes, Paul was insulted. He was shamefully entreated. And then Paul cast the devil out. And then the paymen lost their money and their game. And there was real trouble. There was always trouble when you hit an ungodly man's pocket. I went preaching in a certain place, and I emptied an old apostate church, and I made the minister really mad. My, he was mad. And he said, if Pearsley stays here, this church will be bankrupt. He says, everybody's leaving. And those that are not leaving tell me they're not giving another penny to the World Council of Churches. So where is my church going to be? By the way, there are some churches in this city in trouble. I'll tell you about one of them. They had a meeting the other night. You say, how do you know? Well, I had a friend of mine was there. The minister, he says he's preaching to Wood. So he's preaching to them. Mr. and Mrs. Wood and Timothy Timber. He's in trouble. And he suggests that they should close the church down and all go to Glen Gormley. And they decided, or he said at the meeting, he said, we're prepared to sell the church to the highest bidder. The highest bidder is going to be the Church of Rome, you know that. And there was a member who said, what about Mr. Paisley if he made a bit? Oh, we wouldn't touch his money. We wouldn't touch his money at all. You go up Donegal Street and turn around into North Queen Street and have a look at the big chapel that's there. That used to be Egan Head Irish Presbyterian Church. It was built to house the converts of the 59 Revival. It's now packed to the door with Romanists. Going to hand it over to the highest bidder. Well, thank God Rome will never get this church. We have got the tightest deed ever was drawn up in this church. And I'm telling you, Rome will never get a whisker in here. Hallelujah. Amen. This church is going to go till the Lord comes. And then, praise God, we're going to meet Him. And I don't care what the Pope does after that. We're going to celebrate His damnation in the pit and shout hallelujah when Babylon falls. Yeah? But let me tell you something. When the Gaeans were gone, there was trouble for Paul. And they brought them before the magistrates. You want to watch yourself when you're before that crowd. And they beat him, commanded to beat him, threw off their clothes. I went before a magistrate in this city once. He was the most awkward character ever a man could be among. I got a transcript of the case. I gave it to a lawyer. I said, I'd like you to have a look at it. And after he read it, he said, you know, that's a disgrace. He said, that man did everything that was illegal to keep you from pleading your case. But he was sitting in the same court one day in the wee room, and God blew on him. And he's in eternity now. He's in eternity. And these magistrates gave Paul a rough time. You know we're only paper and straw men today. There's no giants in the land today. Paul was a giant. And his back ran rivers of blood. And there were scars all over his body and over the body of his companion Silas. And when they brought them to prison, they found the dirty old Sal right in the inner prison. And they put him down in the wooden seat. And they fastened his feet in the stalks, and they left him in the darkness. And at midnight, Paul and Cyrus prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. Of course, if they were like the preachers I know, they would hear them. I don't know whether they sung in tune, but you would hear them all right. Someone said it was no wonder that there was an earthquake when two preachers were singing. Well, there was an earthquake, alright. And the jailer got saved. And his house got saved. And the next day the magistrates got scared. And they sent to the sergeants, poor old police, pass the buck to them. You go and do your duty and bring them out and tell them to go. Paul says, I'm not coming out. I'm staying in prison. I like Paul, you know. He was a real extremist. He wouldn't knock Paul around. My Chichester clerk would have trouble if Paul was about. He thinks he has a little trouble with Paisley, but he wouldn't know. He would be saying, Sam Paisley back, Lord. I don't like this fellow Paul. And they brought the magistrates and they let them go. And Paul traveled away to Thessalonica. And when he got there, he was stiff after the beating. And he was broken in body. And then another preacher would have said, I need a holiday. But Paul was much more bold in God to preach the gospel. There's something about the gospel that revives a preacher. Why do you want to make a dead church live? Start preaching the gospel. Do you want to get dead Christians living? Start preaching the gospel. Do you want to have resurrections? Preach the gospel! That's the answer to the problem. Something else. There's the gospel's reaction in man. Oh, there was reaction? All right. My, when this gospel was preached, there was a reaction. There were people who fought it. There were people who rose up in wrath against the preacher. There were people who said, we'll kill this preacher. We'll shut his mouth. But there were people, friend, who believed the gospel of Christ. It's always the same. A man came in to see me this week, and he says, you know, Mr. Paisley, there's one thing about you. He says, the people that are for you would die for you. And the people that are against you would kill you. I said, that's a good description. He says, that's right. He says, they're either for you or they're really against you. And he says, there's no in-between. There don't be in-between. I said, they're extremists both sides. He says, that's right. There's no numb candidates among them. Not one. No, not one. Oh, let me tell you something, friend. The gospel has a reaction. And if there wasn't laws and rules and regulations and a civil authority, my, you would see the reaction. The reaction of men to this church, to this preacher, to this pulpit, to this ministry. They would kill it. They would wipe it out. They've done everything to do that. I've seen the screaming headlines in the press, and so have you. I've read the lies. I've seen man using their privileged position to kill, discredit, scandalize the work of God. My, there's reaction all right. There's riot. But thank God I've seen man tamed, subdued, convicted, and converted through the gospel. I've seen them come. I saw them come today with the tears streaming down their faces to take Christ as their Savior and Lord. Oh, there is reaction. I went preaching some time ago in Derriache, and there was a woman there who was mad. And she walked up and down outside the hall, and she cursed the preacher and cursed the gospel. You know what happened to her? God took both her legs off. She can't walk up and down anymore to curse the preacher. You know, friend, God deals with the enemies of the gospel. He deals with them. I could write a book on men I've seen dealt with. Not because Ian Paisley was anything, he's nothing. Not because this church is anything. It's nothing. But because it's the gospel of God that we're preaching. And God is jealous for His own honor and glory. I'd like to ask you a question, my hero tonight. How do you stand in relationship to the gospel of God? What's your relationship to Jesus Christ tonight? Do you know Him? Is He yours? Have you received them? Have you said, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. Take me. Receive me. Redeem me. I'm yours. Or have you dared to leave gospel meeting after gospel meeting? Have you dared to silence the voice of the Spirit of God within your heart? When I was a young preacher in this road, a young lady came to hear me preach. She was evidently moved by the Spirit of God. And one night I saw her sitting on the old farm in the old church, visibly affected, tears running down her cheeks. The next Sunday evening, I noticed a marked difference. She was there, but she was unconcerned. She was unmoved. Something had happened. I said to myself, I must speak to her. As the folks were filing out, I said to her, I'd like to speak to you in the prayer room. She stepped inside. When everyone had gone, I went into the room. And I said, last Sunday night, you were moved. She says, you can say that again. I said, you shed tears. She said, I did. I said, God was speaking to you. She says, I know it. She said, I went out through the door of the church and the voice inside was calling, convicting, speaking, challenging. She said, I went home. I couldn't eat my supper. I tried to eat and I couldn't. I went upstairs to bed. I got into bed. I pulled the clothes over my ears. But the voice of God, the Spirit of God was speaking. Loudly and loudly He was calling. She said, Mr. Pearsley, I didn't want to get saved. I wanted the world I want its attractions, its pleasures, its companions, its associations. She said, I just got out of bed and I knelt down. And she said, I uttered a terrible prayer, but it's not terrible now to me, but it was terrible at the time. I said, Holy Ghost, leave me alone. She said, the voice stopped. She said, I got into bed. I slept better than ever I've slept for weeks. She says, I came to church tonight, but I'll not be coming back. She says, church doesn't interest me now. Your message doesn't concern me now. She said, I can go and have the world. Terrible thing to do, but you don't need to go down on your knees and say to the Spirit of God to leave you, for He can leave you now. O come, sinner come, O why do you delay? The striking invitation is that you should come today. Tomorrow has no promise that it can give to you. Tomorrow's God's eternity. just hidden from your view. Oh, come, sinner, come, accept the prophery, for death may soon be calling you into her cold embrace. The harvest will be ended. this summer will be past, your lamentation then will be, my soul, my soul, my soul is lost, lost, lost at last. God forbid that it should be so. May you come to Christ. Let's bow our hands. Father, we thank Thee for helping us to deliver this message. We thank Thee for the solemnity of Thy Word. We have felt Thy presence. We have known something of Thy power. Bring souls to Christ now.