Our scripture reading tonight is found in Mark's Gospel chapter 11 beginning to read from verse 1. Mark's Gospel chapter 11. reading from verse one. When they came nigh to Jerusalem unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you. And as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a cold tide, whereon Neverman sat. Loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him, and straightway he will send him hither. And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door, without in a place where two ways met, and they loose him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? And they said unto him, Even as Jesus had commanded. And they let them go. And they brought the coat to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches of the trees, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh. in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple. And when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. And we'll end our reading at verse eleven, knowing God will add his blessing. to the reading of his own word. With God's word open before us, let's unite our hearts together in prayer and seek the Lord's face as we come around God's word. We're praying for God's blessing and help and God's enablement as we come to look into the sacred page that we know the Lord speaking to us tonight. Gracious Eternal Father, we thank Thee for Thy truth that we have before us. We thank Thee, O God, for the rich heritage that we have in our country, where we can come together like this. We can open up Thy Word. We thank Thee for a faithful translation of the Scriptures. Yet, O God, we need so much more. We need to know Thy Holy Spirit. helping us, enabling us to see thy truth. Thank thee, O God, for every child of God in this meeting, and thou hast come to our hearts by thy Holy Spirit, showed to us our sins and revealed to us Christ the Saviour and brought about the new birth experience within us. Lord, we do thank thee for thine enlightenment We thank Thee, O God, for the Spirit of God in our heart to lead us and guide us into all truth. Yet there are many in this meeting who are unsaved. Thou knowest every heart. You know every soul. O God, we do pray that Thou wilt put Thy hand upon such. Lord, we pray that Thou wilt speak to them. Lord, that they may not remain in their sin. They may not sit as they are. but, O God, they may be awakened out of their sin and brought to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Do hear our prayer. Do speak by thy Holy Spirit. Bless, Lord, in the preaching of the Word. Give to me help so that Christ may be exalted. And, O Father, that our eye would be turned toward Him to see the beauty that is in Christ Jesus the Lord. And we do pray, Lord, that thy truth and word may be fixed and applied to each heart by most the need of all in the meeting. Save the lost, build up we thy people, and speak to our hearts. We ask all these things in the name of Christ Jesus, our Saviour. Amen. Mark's Gospel, Chapter 11, the portion that we have read together leads us into the final week of the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ prior to the cross. And yet before that great scene of the crucifixion, the purpose for which Christ came into the world, remember, unfolds, there is an event here that is worthy of note. The Lord Jesus commands two of his disciples to go into a village, and to there fetch a colt and to bring it to him so that he might ride into Jerusalem upon it. Why did that event take place? Well, in the book of Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9 there was a prediction concerning the Messiah. And it was this, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. You see, the events of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ were not haphazard events. Rather, the Lord fulfilled every prediction that was made concerning Him. even to this particular event. Remember the Lord said in Luke 18, all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. Now the reason why we make that point before proceeding to look at this passage is this. These things are written so that we might grasp the reality of who the Lord Jesus really is. He is the fulfillment of all those Old Testament predictions that were made concerning the Messiah. And if you read the Scriptures correctly, and you are looking at Christ aright, When we see these things fulfilled in His life, then we must be assured in our heart that He is who He claims to be. So therefore, you dare not reject the Lord Jesus Christ. You dare not put Him to one side, for God has showed to us in His truth and in His Word through the events of Christ's life that He has fulfilled in every part, all those things that were said concerning Him, even to the very matter, of course, of the cross. The great work which He accomplished there on Calvary for the salvation of sinners. These details are therefore not recorded, as it were, haphazardly. There's a reason for them. so that we may see clearly Christ is who he claims to be. And yet in this particular event that is recorded in Mark 11, there is much instruction, much that is suggestive. When we think for instance of the unconverted, the very cult is a picture of those who are unconverted. The manner in which the cult is brought to Jesus has a lesson for God's people in their business of seeking to win others for the Lord. The service that the cult is put to, again, is most suggestive of what it is to be a child of God. If I could draw your attention, first of all, to the fact that the cult is a great emblem A picture, if you like, of sinners. In what way? Well, for instance, if we look at verse 2, we see that the coat was tied so it was in bondage, wasn't it? So the sinner is in bondage. If you turn with me to John's Gospel, chapter 8. John's Gospel, chapter 8. The Lord Jesus spoke here to the Jews. John's Gospel, chapter 8, verse 31, and he is speaking here of the freedom that he brings to man. Verse 31, then, said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abram's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commit a sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Now implicit in what the Lord Jesus Christ is pointing out there is that we're in bondage in our natural state. We're in bondage because we are sinners. What do we do? We practice, we commit sin. The Lord says here, whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. You look across the world today, what marks it? Sin. Now, of course, today society calls sin by different names. They don't call it sin anymore. But it's sin nonetheless. Some people call it, well, People are in social deprivation. They talk about the various ways in which society might be in bondage. The person who's addicted to drugs is in bondage, they say, to drugs. Someone who is in debt is in bondage. They're in poverty. They are tied by their circumstances. I'm not saying that poverty is a sin, I'm just saying that People today have a view of society and what they do is they look at the circumstances that a man or a woman might be in and they say they're in bondage to their circumstances. Well the Bible speaks of a different kind of bondage. The bondage that really matters is the bondage to sin. That is the thing that you must recognise most about your life. It's not your outward circumstances that are important. It's not the bondage that you feel that you may be in because of your social conditions. Rather, the Bible directs you to the need of your soul and that your soul is in bondage. and that you are tied to your sin. How do I know that? Because you practice sin, and because I practice sin. That's the nature of our heart. And again, if you look around you, and if you examine your own life in light of the Word of God, don't you find that? If you go on to look at this cult, we understand that it was unbroken. Because it says here that this cult had never A man sat upon it. It says here in verse 2, whereon never man sat. So it wasn't broken. We can say therefore, it was wild. If I could use the illustration of a horse, people will understand. You know that a horse, if it is out in the wild, in order for it to be of use, it has got to be broken. That is, it has got to be tamed so that a man may sit upon it and ride upon it. And when that takes place, of course, a man may suffer many a bruise trying to break the horse because the horse doesn't want the man on its back and will try to throw it off. Well, you see, that's the nature of man. Man is wild in his sin. He does not want God's law. He does not want God's Word. He will seek to throw off the Word of God, throw off every restraint that God will make upon him. Let me give you an illustration from the Word of God of the wildness of man, mankind, the wildness of the soul. If you turn with me to the book of James, look with me at chapter 3, the Bible here is speaking about We could call it one of the smallest members of our body. Speaking of the tongue, look at James and let's look please at chapter 3. James chapter 3 and the opening verses. It says here, for in many things we offend all. Isn't that reminding us of our nature? Whenever we examine our lives in the light of the word of God, we have to say we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." Now, in reading that, we might think, well, there's some hope here for man. If a man can bridle the tongue, then he is described here as a perfect man. If he offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. But what does the Bible say about our tongue? Look on, verse 3, Behold, we put bits in the horse's mouth, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. We've been speaking of the horse earlier on, and how man is able to tame the horse and put a bridle upon it, and able to control the horse with the bit in the horse's mouth. Then again you have another illustration in verse 4 of the ship. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Again, you think of the great tankers that plough the oceans. Sometimes they come into the Mersey Channel I'm not so sure whether they're bringing oil or sending it out, these days it's hard to know what they're doing with the stuff, but nonetheless the tankers come up to mercy, what great ships they are, and yet they are turned with a very small helm, even to this day. But what does the Bible say about the tongue? Verse 5, even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things, behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell." Now there's not much prospect there of a man or a woman controlling their tongue, is there? The tongue is the smallest of our members. Think of our feet. Where often do our feet take us? They're a large part of our body. Think of our hands, our arms, the work that they do. Yet the work that we do, the way that we go, is stained and marked by sin. Think of our head. It, of course, contains the brain. And we think of our thoughts. We think of the use that we put our minds to, how sinful our minds can be in the thoughts that they have. And now we come to the tongue. Ah, but it's a very small thing. You would think, yes, man should be able to control the small member. After all, if he can't hold and take charge of the large things, well, maybe there's hope if he can take control of the small things, the little member. But you know we can't even do that, can we? There's an expression about people we often use, they can't hold their tongue. Do you know none of us can hold our tongue? How often we say the wrong thing, how often we say the most sinful things, and how often the tongue breaks forth. One of the old Puritans talked about the tongue having bars, teeth, and having a seal, lips, and still it could break forth. We're speaking about the wildness of man, the wildness of the human heart, and you will often see, you will often hear the wildness, the sinfulness of man through the use of the tongue. I remember when I was working, I'm not saying I don't work now by the way, but when I was young working in secular employment, I worked in a filling station. and I'd just started this job and I was studying as well to get, in those days it was an O level, it wasn't a GCSE as it is now, again I'm not sure which is the hardest, but anyway we studied at night to get this O level and I said to this man who was on a particular shift serving fuel at the filling station, that shows you how far back it is, you don't get many of those today, but I said to this man, would you mind doing an hour for me and covering part of my shift so that I can do this class. I thought he was a kind of reasonable fellow. And before I knew it, he gave me the most severest tongue lashing with oaths and with curses as to who did I think that I was coming to him to ask him to do an hour for me. I wouldn't even dare repeat the words that he used to me. You know what it showed to me? That's the wildness of the human heart. You know what I'm talking about. I'm sure you've experienced it week by week. How many times you've seen it? Men and women flying off in a rage. It seems no matter what they do, they can't hold their tongue. See, that's the wildness of the heart. That's just a little illustration of how while we are. Sometimes we think we're much better than we are, don't we? But we're not. The Bible's right when it says we're depraved and there's no good thing that lies within us. When even the smallest of our members breaks forth into the most unholy conversation, the most sinful and vile talk, the temper itself may be lost, as we say. See the tongue? is an illustration of the wildness of our heart. Don't come saying there's something good in you. There's no good thing in any one of us. We're sinful. Sinful through and through. Notice where the place where the cult was. It was outside. Outside. You look again at the passage We're told here in verse 2, go your way into the village over against you. As soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a cold tide whereon never man set. Loose him and bring him. And then in verse 4, they went their way and found the cold tide by the door without, in a place where two ways met. Two things about the place. First of all, it was outside. Paul the Apostle, when he was writing to the believers, reminded the Ephesian believers that when they were yet in their sin, they were without God and without hope. This morning we were considering those great passages, great phrases in John 14 where the Lord Jesus said that the Father and He would come to us He would make His abode with us. And we were speaking of the glorious union that we have as God's people with Christ. Reminding us that we have a communion with God. And we thought of how the Lord manifests Himself to us. I want to say to you who are unconverted, you know nothing about that. You know nothing of the presence of God with you. You're without God. You're without hope. Your sins, the Bible says, have separated you from God. Sometimes people, especially in England, they say to me, because of a complete lack of understanding of the Word of God, they say, but I pray to God, as if somehow they feel that God is with them. God is not with the sinner. His presence is not with them. I'm speaking here of that presence with God that a child of God has, where we are God's people, we are God's children. You're not saved. You don't know that. You don't know God with you. You're separated from God. You will notice also here that this cult regarding its place was at an intersection, a crossroads, Because the Bible says here it was a place where two ways met. Remember, only one of those ways led to Christ. Only one of those routes brought that cult to Christ. In life there are many ways that individuals or groups will tell you is the way to go in life, but the Bible tells you there is only one way to Christ. Not many ways. Not so long ago, a few weeks back, I had the opportunity to go to Kenya and on the plane I sat beside this French man. He could speak English and so we started up a conversation. Inevitably the subject came round to religion because I told him, having been asked, what I did, what my role was and I said well I'm a minister, a Protestant minister of the gospel. Of course he tried then to tell me what his belief was and it runs something like this, that really there was God but there were many ways to God. Despite all that I would try to say he still held fervently to that thought, you know that's the thought of many people, that really It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe something. There was a man in the church in Liverpool, he was working on the church actually, and again the subject came round and he said words to this effect, it's important just to have faith. He was a Roman Catholic. I reminded him it was most important to have the right faith. It's not a matter of having any faith. It's a matter of knowing the right way to God. And the Bible teaches that there is but one way to God. Lord Jesus reminded us of that. You can't come to the Father, Christ says, but by Me. And therefore, there is only one way to know God, and that is to get to Christ. And there's only one way that you can get to Christ, and that's through the Gospel message. That's through the way God has provided. There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And you've got to get to Christ, and you've got to come God's way, not your own way or somebody else's way. God's way alone will do. That's the only route that will bring you to God. That's the only route that your soul's security may be met. I wonder if you come this way. Do you know what it is to realise that you are a sinner and you have no hope and that only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can cleanse you from your sin? Only by coming to know Him as your Saviour may you be made right with God. There is one way, one way alone, no other way. Secondly, you'll notice here in this passage that the loosing of the colt has to be viewed in parallel with the two disciples that were sent. The Lord Jesus Christ says here in verse 1, He sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you. Now I want to point out something here to God's people, that this cult was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ through the use of the two disciples. The Lord, remember, was all-powerful. He could have had the colt chew through the rope or whatever it was that was tying it to the door and caused the beast to wander along to the place where the Lord was. But the Lord didn't do that. The Lord sent two of his disciples. It's not a great reminder to us that the Lord uses means. The Lord has ordained means by which he will save men and women. You see, the proclamation of the gospel is made by those whom the Lord has called and sent. Let's think of the preaching of the Word. God calls individuals to go forth and to minister the Word of God. God calls upon his people to witness to those around them. to the truth of the gospel. The point I'm making is God uses means. Now I'm saying this first of all for the benefit of God's people and then also for the benefit of unconverted. For the benefit of God's people to remind us that we are to be busy about the Master's service and we are to be busily engaged in the proclaiming of the Word of God. And then for the benefit of you who are unsaved, And I say that for this reason. Some unconverted people feel, I am waiting for something spectacular to occur. And when that spectacular event occurs, then I will know the gospel is true and then I will come. Well, I'm going to tell you something, the Lord isn't going to do that. The Lord has brought you here tonight to a place where you're hearing the Word of God. And what the Lord requires of you is to believe the Gospel. The Lord, of course, has already done something spectacular. He has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ has gone forth to Calvary, and He has died, and Christ has rose again. That's the spectacular thing the Lord has shown to you. the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And now you're required to believe. If you turn with me over to Romans chapter 10, I want to point out something of relevance in connection with this from Romans 10. Romans chapter 10, you will see from verse 14 the means. which the Lord uses, which is the preaching of the Word of God. If you look at verse 13, you'll see it's in keeping. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. There's the great call of the gospel. And if you look at verse 14, you will see what the Bible says about how that message goes forth. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. You see, God has sent us, if I could be much more precise, and I say it humbly, knowing the responsibility that lies upon a gospel minister, God has sent me. God has sent the minister of this church to tell you of your need of Christ. He's not going to give you a spectacular event, He's calling on you to call upon Him. God has already given the spectacular events, as I've already said. If you look back through this chapter, you'll see in verse 6 it says, But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not on thine heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down from above. Who shall ascend into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead? But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach." See, God's not going to give a spectacular event. God calls you to repent. You must believe the gospel. Therefore, the means that God uses is the preaching of the Word of God. This is the challenge that is coming now to your heart. You're required to believe. You're required to obey the Gospel. You're required to come to Christ. If you notice also, not only were there ordained means here, but the disciples were obedient to the will of Christ. Let believers be obedient to the Lord. If you want to be used to win souls for the Lord Jesus Christ, be obedient at all times to the Lord Jesus. Be obedient. Sometimes there are individuals we don't want to speak to, perhaps because we're afraid, perhaps because we know the reaction that we might get, But you know where to be obedient. These disciples went in the way that the Lord sent them. It's important to be obedient. If I could give you an illustration quickly from the Word of God, Acts 13. Do you remember John Mark? He went forth with Paul on the missionary journey and then if you read the chapter you'll find out that he left. Now, I don't think that the reasons upon which he left were right. There was an argument that occurred later on with the missionaries over this man John Mark. But it was not right that John Mark left that missionary tour. But if you read the passage carefully, you'll see that he missed out on seeing the blessing that came through that missionary tour. Read it for yourself. You know, as a child of God, you can miss out with God because you're not obedient, because you're not going forth perhaps as you should go forth. Let's be obedient. Let's seek to fulfil the will of Christ in all things. These disciples would face an objection, you'll notice as well. The Lord anticipated it Because he said in verse 3, if any man say unto you, why do ye this? Say ye the Lord have need of him. So the Lord anticipated there was going to be objections raised and as it turned out there was an objection raised. Don't go thinking that somehow all will be easy when you go forth to speak to souls. You're going to get objections. You're going to face resistance. One of the things on the mainland that I suppose we face most of all whenever we start to speak to people about the things of God is an attitude that says, who do you think you are? Coming to me and telling me this as if we have no right. You see automatically in the mainland you'll find that there's a resistance against the gospel. You'll get it very, very quickly. People just don't want to know very often. We're not to be discouraged by that. The Lord, remember, has reminded us that there are going to be difficulties. Did he not say to his own disciples that it would not be merely objections, it would be persecutions? And he said, so persecuted they the prophets. It's not going to be easy in bringing the Gospel. We're going to face difficulties. But then there's an order that the Lord Jesus Christ gave here to his disciples. He told them what to say. The Lord had need of him. And when they said that, of course, the owners let them go. Now, remember, when we go forth with the Gospel, and when we go forth with its message, we're not going out on our own charges. That is, we don't go forth with our own message. Oh yes, we believe it, because it's the Lord's message. If you come to me and say, what right have you to tell me that I am a sinner? What right have you to challenge me with the gospel? Well, of myself I've no right, but the right that I have is the right that Christ gave me. And He told me to go forth as He tells His people to go forth. As opportunities present themselves, they speak of Christ and they're assured they're on Christ's charge. They're doing the duty that the Saviour has ordered them upon. That should be an encouragement to every child of God as you go forth. Understand there's open airs that take place here in connection with this church. That's not an easy work to do. There's outreach that takes place. Again, not an easy work. And oftentimes you might be challenged in yourself and wonder, well, what am I doing here? when there are so many that would oppose me. But you're going forth in the Lord's charge. The Lord has given you the charge. And you notice what the Lord said here about this colt. The Lord is in need of him. The Lord has need of this animal. Isn't that in a wonderful way exactly what the Lord says concerning sinners? What does he go forth to do? To seek and to save sinners. The Lord has need of sinners. The Lord sends his people forth with the message of the Word, the Gospel. Why? Because he has need of bringing sinners to himself. You see, we go forth not on our own charges, but on the Lord, at the Lord's command. And you who are unconverted, don't go thinking that somehow we have no right to say what we say. We have every right. The Lord has sent us forth. That should be another inducement to you to flee to the Lord Jesus Christ, that the Lord would have concern for your souls so much that he would send forth people to preach, that he would send forth the word of God to your heart through his servants, to challenge you that you would believe the gospel. You'll notice finally The service that this cult was put to, first of all, was brought to Christ. True service begins when a person is brought to the Saviour. Because of the religious apostasy of our day, people think that somehow if they just rub up alongside a church, identify with something about Christianity, that makes them a Christian. No, it doesn't. To become a servant of Christ, you must first meet with Christ. And you must know his saving work in your life and in your heart. You must, the Bible says, be born again. It's not about turning over a new leaf. It is about having a true work of regeneration wrought in your soul by the Spirit of God. You must be born again. You must have a meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ. You must realise that there is nothing good in you but Christ alone saves and you must cry out unto God to save you from your sin. If you come to that place, oh that you would. Oh that you'd come this very evening. Finally notice about the service that this colt was put to. The colt was made to feel comfortable all along the way. The Bible says here that many spread their garments in the way and others cut down branches of the trees and strawed them in the way. Remember that the colt was bearing the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the first thing to notice when we think of this. When a person comes to Christ, the Bible describes that as taking the yoke of Christ upon you. You know what a yoke is? It is that device that ties oxen together so that it might be put to service, perhaps ploughing a field. That's a burden. Elsewhere, the Bible describes coming to Christ as taking up the cross. It is not that we pay a price to be saved. We can't earn salvation. We can't buy it in any way, not by anything that we do. But the fact is that once we're brought to Christ, immediately we take upon ourselves the burden of the service of the Lord Jesus. Christ becomes our Master. We're not our own anymore. We're bought with a price, the Bible says. And we are now servants of Christ. Now, of course, to the person who's unconverted, when they hear that, they immediately start thinking, ah, but I have so many things that will have to be given up. The yoke, the burden that you're talking about. I see other Christians bearing. I wouldn't want that burden because it would be too difficult. But you don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what you're talking about. You see, although the child of God, now in Christ, bears the service of the Lord and labors for the Lord Jesus Christ, The Lord makes that burden easy. In Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28 the Lord says, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And ye shall find rest for your souls. And the Lord goes on to add, For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Believers find this to be so. If you were to have asked us concerning the burdens and the trials that have to be borne as a child of God, before we had to bear them, could we bear them, we'd say no we couldn't. It would be too difficult. I would be living in fear. But you know what we found? We have found by experience that in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ, the yoke of Christ is easy. and His burden is light, because His grace is sufficient for us. And we have found by experience that in our walk with Christ, whatever burden Christ placed upon us, we were able to carry it. Not by our strength, but by the grace that the Lord gave to us. The Bible tells us that On the matter of temptation, the Lord will not place any temptation or trial before us above that which we are able, the Bible says, but he will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. God's people, don't you know what I'm talking about? You understand? that though at times we've had to go through great trial, have we not known the grace of God with us and enabling us? Because the yoke of Christ is easy, and the burden of Christ is light, for He gives grace. And you who are unconverted, therefore, have no reason to say, ah, but it would be too difficult for me to be a Christian. No. The yoke of Christ is easy. This burden is light because He gives grace, sufficient grace to meet every trial, to defeat every sin, to meet every danger, to bear every difficulty. This coat is brought into service like us when we are brought to Christ, we're brought into service. We're not our own, we're bought with a price. And by experience we find, oh yes, there may be many difficulties along the way, but we have found the grace of Christ to be sufficient for us. Oh you who are unconverted, realize what you are. Realize that you've got nothing. You're a sinner. You're wild in your sins. Stop deceiving yourself. Stop convincing yourself that you're somehow better than you are. You're not. You're wild. You're sinful. And if you die as you are, you'll die without God and you'll die without hope and be lost in hell. But there's one to whom we point you to. It is the Lord Jesus. It is His finished work upon the cross. It is the righteousness of Christ that He freely gives to all that come to Him so that you might stand before God right in His sight. This is the ground you must stand upon. Oh, come today. Come into the service of Christ. Come to know Him. Praise God, He will save you. He's promised that whosoever shall call upon Him, He will hear. He will save your soul. May God help you to come, sinner. May God help you to come tonight. Amen.