It's time now for the Chapel Hour, coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today's message was preached during the 2004 Bible Conference. Following the introduction by Dr. Bob Jones III, our speaker will be Rev. Walter Burrell, pastor of Return Baptist Church in Demarest, Georgia. The title of his message is, The Man Who Kissed the Door of Heaven but Went to Hell. The text is from Matthew 26 and 27. Let me introduce our esteemed preacher of the evening, Pastor Walter Burrell. How many of you have seen the film Sheffie? Did I see your hands? Almost everybody here. Well, you've heard him preach if you've seen the film Sheffie. He was the preacher at the camp meeting. Memorable, memorable scene in the film. He's preached here on other occasions. He pastored nearby in Demarest, Georgia. at the Return Baptist Church. And he and his wife, Pat, are very gracious hosts and hostess to our students who go down there on the weekends to minister. And they're just like home folks. Brother Walter and Pat are. And she's up here all the time. He's away in meetings. He's held over a thousand evangelistic meetings. Along with his pastorates, he's pastored in three different places in the South, came to BJU in the 1950s, but is out somewhere all the time doing evangelistic work. And she's often here visiting students who come from the church or that area, bringing prospective students, taking part in events here. I think she comes, and he, when he can, to almost every artist series here. They really are like home folks. It gives me great joy to welcome him back to the pulpit here. Those of you girls who are in the Mary Gaston dorm, perhaps you have seen hanging in the little lobby area there a portrait of Melody Maxwell. Melody was daughter to our speaker and his wife, and she was killed in an automobile accident a number of years ago. And in her memory, the Burroughs gave a renovation to that nice facility. And so when you enjoy the beauty of it and the functionality of it, please remember that it was given in Melody Maxwell's memory, their daughter, their married daughter. And so we look forward tonight to the message that God has from him. If you have your Bible, please turn with me to the book of Matthew. The book of Matthew, we'll begin reading in the 26th chapter of the book of Matthew. Some years ago, I was in a revival meeting at Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis where the late Dr. Richard Clearwater is pastor. It was a very unusual experience for me coming off the farm and out of the country. I came to that very beautiful and very refined group of folks, and I was a little anxious, and I said to Dr. Clearwaters, how long do I have to preach? He said, you can preach as long as you want to, but at twelve o'clock, we're all going home. So I hope you'll stay with me, and I'll try to be considerate of the time. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 26, I'd like to read beginning at verse 14, and then I'll call your attention to some of the other verses that I feel we need to consider. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priest, and said unto him, What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him. Looking down to verse 47 of the same chapter, and the scripture continues the story, and says, And while he yet spake, Lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude, with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same as he hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. Turning to the following chapter, chapter 27, I read beginning at verse 3, and the Scripture continues, Then Judas, which had betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders, saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went, and hanged himself. And the chief priest took the silver pieces and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in. There are two other verses in the New Testament that give a conclusion as far as this side of eternity is concerned. the conclusion of this man, Judas. In Acts chapter 1, verse 18, and also verse 25, and I read you these two verses. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity. And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. At verse 25, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, speaking of Matthias, from which Judas, by transgression, fell, that he might go to his own place. There are a few stories that you'll read in the Scripture that is filled with greater tragedy, and yet no great tragedy prevails in that story. Yet there is, within the story, one of the most important lessons for any of us to ever, ever consider. When I read the story of Judas Iscariot and realize the person that he was and the man with whom he walked, somehow that record brings a chill to my spine, and it brings to my heart a sense of breaking and remorse and tears. Indeed, the life of Judas Iscariot is and was a tragedy. A tragedy to realize that in spite of the high calling that Judas received, yet he threw away that privilege and that opportunity for a meager thirty pieces of silver. What a privilege this man did have. It was a rare privilege that only eleven of the men had. As one of the twelve, Judas Iscariot heard the majestic voice of Jesus Christ. He saw with his very eyes the marvelous miracles that he performed. He heard the stirring messages and the teaching of the Son of God. He felt the very influence of the person of Jesus Christ. And yet, what a tragedy. Though having all of these opportunities and moments in life, yet how terrible to realize that he still rejected Jesus Christ as the Lord and the Master and Savior of his life. Many years ago, I was in the city of Anderson, South Carolina at a meeting. I visited the home of a dear man and his wife, And we sat talking one afternoon along spiritual and scriptural things, and the lady said, you know, I heard a preacher say the other day that Judas Iscariot was the man who kissed the door of heaven but went to hell. What a terrible and shocking thought. that a man could be so near heaven itself as to kiss the door, and yet perish in his sin and go into eternal perdition. You see, it's really not the man who knows about the door, nor is it the person who can point others to the door, nor who can describe the beauty and the wonder of the door, But it is the person who enters that door who knows the graciousness of our Lord's salvation. Jesus Himself said it in John chapter 10 and verse 9, where He said, I am the door. By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. So my friend, it is possible even for one to know about the door, and yet not having entered into that door, yet is lost in his sin and doomed for an eternal hell. But not only is this story of Judas a great tragedy, it bears a great truth. It bears a truth, a lesson, that you and I indeed should heed and consider. It's heart-searching. For indeed, the Bible tells us in the book of Jeremiah 17 and verse 9, that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Oh, how we need to be mindful of this deceitful heart of ours. I think Paul had that same thought in mind when he wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5, and he said to them, examine yourselves. See whether you be in the faith. Oh, how necessary it is for us to be certain and sure that we are a born-again, redeemed child of God. I ask you then tonight, will your religious experience stand up under the test and the scrutiny of the Word of God? If it doesn't, You need to very seriously consider what you have done with Jesus Christ and whether or not you have been born again. I ask you again, what is your hope of heaven? What do you base heaven's destiny for your soul upon? All that you came from a fine Christian family? that you've been surrounded by Christian people, that you go to a church that preaches the Bible. Oh, my friend, the hope of heaven is none other than the person of Jesus Christ. 1 John chapter 5, verse 12 very clearly tells us, He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. How tragic it would be for any who may be a student of this school, or a part of this school, or a friend of this school, how tragic a story of your life would be if, having heard and felt and been influenced by the very ministry of this school, that you, in a personal way, have failed to respond to the person of Jesus Christ. There are literally thousands of religious people in our world who know nothing of the saving grace of God. In meetings that I've conducted for well over 50 years now, it is not a surprise to me when some of the most active members of churches have come to say, I have never received Christ personally as my Savior. I've seen deacons. I've seen elders. I've seen stewards. I've seen those who are well involved in the ministry of churches come to receive Christ as their personal Savior. What I'm trying to say to you tonight is not an attempt to upset you, but to get you in the light of eternity to examine your heart. to know for certainty what you have done with Jesus Christ. There are several things that I want to tell you about Judas. In the first place, I believe we could safely say that he was a proud man. Pride was the underlying stream of his life. Andrew Murray said in a definition of humility, That humility is the attitude of the heart of utter and absolute dependence upon God for everything. I like that definition. And yet how utterly and absolutely dependent the soul of man must be upon the Savior for his salvation. His hope is in nothing else. His salvation is in none other than the One who shed His blood on the cross for us. Pride is a very deceitful thing. Oh, but I, in His prophecy to Edom, in verse 3 of that prophecy, said, The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. You see, it is pride that gives a man a distorted picture of himself. It's like looking into a trick mirror. The reflection is not really the truth. And so pride can so cloud and so blind our hearts and minds that we really do not see ourselves as we are. The Pharisee of Luke chapter 18 is a prime example. Pride had so blinded his heart that he thought he was perfectly acceptable before God and was declared to be righteous. But yet all he depended on was his good life, his good deeds. I thank you I'm not as other men are. I think I'm not an extortioner. I think I'm not an adulterer. I give tithes of all that I possess. All of these things have blinded the mind of an unretentive sinner. And he went away to his home that day, still unregenerate, lost in his sin. The Bible warns us in Proverbs 29 and verse 23, A man's pride shall bring him low, and certainly Judah's pride brought him to the very lowest hell itself. He was a proud man indeed. Too proud to acknowledge his need of a Savior. A man who felt in his own pride he could merit his way to heaven like many do in this day. But not only was he a proud man, Judah was a A pious man. He was very outwardly religious. When, as a child, and according to the customs of the day, even in the case of Joseph and Mary in relation to the child Jesus, they took him up to the temple to do according to the custom of the Jews. They came at a moment of recognition and consecration, and undoubtedly the parents of Judas did the same thing. He was religious by nature. His nature, religiously, undoubtedly was cultivated by his parents. For in the case of those in Israel, the father was to act and fill the role as priest in the family. Judas undoubtedly was acquainted as a young man with Moses and the prophets. I'm sure he was so well acquainted with them that perhaps he could have become a Sunday school teacher in a lot of churches. He knew well the words of the prophets. He knew the commands of Moses. And yet, he simply had no knowledge. of a personal Savior trusting in Jesus Christ as his own. Salvation, though, is not simply coming from a religious background. Judas had that background, his training, his learning, having been taught. He was a man of religious heritage. But you see, a man is not saved by reason of his religious heritage. Salvation is a personal matter. Your salvation is a personal, individual thing. Mama's salvation doesn't save you. Dad's salvation is not your salvation. Salvation is a personal matter. Your father and mother could have died as missionaries, giving their life to the spreading of the gospel on a foreign field. But salvation is a personal matter. It's what you have done and what you do with Jesus Christ. Not only was He a proud man and a pious man, but I think we can safely say He was a praiseworthy man from the outside. His name Judas, by the way, is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Judah, which means praise. And now this mother and father must have named their son hoping and praying that he would one day become a praise and an honor and a glory to the God of Israel. I do not know what hopes and dreams your mother and father had for your life. I hope those dreams and those prayers and that family background has brought you to your knees and shown you your need of a Savior personally. And so he was a man of praise. He was praised for his apparent honesty. You see, even when he became one of the disciples, he was made the treasure of the group. He was praised. He was a trusted man, apparently. And yet, Judas, we're told by John, in the twelfth chapter of John, at verse six, when Jesus and the disciples were there at the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha, the lady came in and began to anoint the feet of Jesus with a very costly ointment. And when Judas sensed that fragrance, Seeing what happened, the Bible said that he declared, why was not this ointment taken and sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? But John said, I'll tell you a secret. It was not that Judas cared for the poor, for he was a thief and he carried the bag. He was dipping in the till. And Judas was a man yet outwardly trusted and praised by other disciples. Not only was he a proud man, a pious man, a praiseworthy man, but sad to say he was a pretentious man. He was the world's greatest pretender. Have you seen those twelve disciples walking along behind our Lord Jesus, or seated listening to Him as He taught them? I'm sure you would have had no thought whatsoever that Judas could have been a pretender. Not at all. 1 Samuel 16 and verse 7 tells us, Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. He was Judas, a pretender. He was not saved that one moment and then lost later on. I find no record of that nor any intimation that it's possible even according to the Word of God in any man's life. John 6, verse 70 and 71 sets the record straight. Jesus said it like this, have not I chosen you twelve? Not eleven, but twelve. And one of you is a devil. He was a devil from the beginning. It wasn't that he became corrupted later, but at the very choosing of Judas, we find him to be a pretender, a betrayer. That's a shocking truth. But there's a day that's coming that will be of greater shock than this. Matthew chapter 7 in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in verse 21, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in the heaven. For many will come to me in that day, and shall say, Lord, Lord." They'll even dare at that moment to call him Lord. Have we not prophesied in thy name? They were preachers. Have we not done many wonderful works? Have we not cast out devils, apparent miracle workers? And then Jesus said, I will profess to them, depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. You see, you would not be known had you not been born. And when men are not born again, our God knows them not as his children. Judas, pretending. Yet, I think it's to be known how much like a saved person, an unsaved person can look on the outside. Shakespeare said it, oh, what a goodly outside falsehood to have. How much like a Christian, he can carry a Bible, He can sing a hymn. He can attend church. He can be morally pure. He can be clean and upright and honest. And yet, the only salvation is in Jesus Christ. Jesus once said of the Pharisees, the religionists, in Matthew 23 and verse 27 and 8, He said, you're beautiful on the outside, But inwardly, you're full of extortion and riot and uncleanness. You're like whited sepulchers, yet you're full of dead men's bones. Judas, what a tragedy. The questions often come concerning Judas, and one question that people have asked me is this. Why, if Jesus knew this man from the beginning, To be his betrayer, why did he choose him? A mystery, yes. But I believe herein lies one of the greatest illustrations of the love, the mercy, and the grace of God ever given man. Jesus knew what this fellow would do. He knew he was his betrayer. And yet in love for him, in mercy he spared his life, in grace he offers him salvation in himself, and yet Jesus, knowing all of that, chose him. You see, I'm speaking to someone maybe here tonight, and the Lord God knew all about you and knows you even now. He knew what you would become. And yet in His mercy and love and grace, He gives you an opportunity like few people in this world have to be a part of this body of men and women and to be under the sound of the solid preaching of the Word of God from this pulpit. That's God's love. That's God's mercy. That's God's grace. And yet, knowing what Judas would do, he would reject the Savior. He yet gave him such an opportunity. But what a miserable life he must have lived. Can you imagine? Can you imagine constantly being in the company of Jesus Christ and not being surrendered to Him? Can you imagine how he must have felt when he heard the testimony of men like Simon Peter or men like Andrew? Can you imagine how he felt? I imagine he wanted to slide away and let others do all of the testifying, but Judas didn't have a testimony. Many times people back away from the spiritual side because there's an emptiness of heart. Miserable, trying to be a Christian without Christ, how miserable. You no more can be a Christian without having Christ as you can run a grocery store without groceries. You can't be a child of God without knowing Jesus as your own personal Savior. He was on guard constantly. I see him in visions of my mind as he is listening to Jesus teaching there at the Sermon on the Mount. And I can see him as Jesus comes to that passage I've just quoted, where he said, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord. I can almost envision a smile creeping across the face of Judas when Jesus says, have we not prophesied in thy name? And I imagine Judas must have nodded in agreement, for he had preached. And then Jesus said, have we not cast out devils? And the Lord Jesus had given the twelve power over unclean spirits. It wasn't them, it was Christ. And yet again in His power, I see Judas reflecting on some marvelous, miraculous moment. And then Jesus said, and they'll say, have we not done many wonderful works? I can see him smile even broader now. What he's done. The good works, the good deeds. But oh, what a shock! Like a bolt of lightning out of the sky, a rumbling thunder is heard in his heart. For Jesus said, Then will I say to them, I never knew you. For fear someone had seen him. He hides his face. He knows where he stands. He knows what he is. None yet ever suspected Judas apparently. At the Last Supper when they were seated around the table, Jesus mentioned the fact that one of you will betray me. Not one time did a disciple say, Lord, I know who your betrayer is. It's Judas. None said that. They had rather suspect themselves. than to suspect Judas. They said one after the other, Lord, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? And yet, none suspected him. A job of pretension so very evident. And then they arrested Jesus. You remember that night? And as the Scripture we read tells us, Jesus has gone to pray yonder in the garden. He's prayed until his sweat becomes his drops of blood. And now all of a sudden, there comes this band of soldiers led by one of his disciples, Judas. Jesus arises at the sound of those shuffling, marching feet. And now, arising from the place of prayer, the golden splendor of a Passover moon shines down in that garden. And there is Judas at the lead of that band of soldiers, and he comes toward Jesus and says, Master, Master, you know what he's saying? I believe when he cried and called Jesus, Master, angels in heaven turned their heads away. It must have sent a chill over every redeemed child of God who knew this man. He is not your Master, Lord Jesus. He is not your Master, Judas. You only name Him as such. Jesus had said so often in His earthly ministry, You call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I have said. Why call you Me, Lord, Lord? Judas called Him Master. And now, behold, He comes to Jesus and plants a kiss on the cheek of the Son of God. The door of heaven He kisses. That kiss must have wounded more than the sting of a thousand ladders. It must have cut more deeply into the heart of Jesus than the Roman cat of nine tails cut into the back when they whipped Him in that court. Judas now hears Jesus say something that to you and me is almost unbelievable. Jesus said, Friend, why have you come? Friend, Lord Jesus? He's not your friend. He's your betrayer. And yet the Bible said, greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend, for you, for me. He laid his life down, and yet he laid that life down for some who are here in this audience, perhaps tonight, who've only called him Lord. when in reality the door of the heart has never been opened. You know, I believe when Jesus called Judas friend, there must have been a slight awakening in the conscience of Judas. I think I can hear in this word, love's last plea. For it's the last time Judas will hear our Lord calling to himself. And it's the last call that he'll ever receive from the Son of God. Friend, and maybe for but a moment, there flashed in the memory of Judas those marvelous scenes that were so miraculous. The tenderness of Jesus when He gathered the little children and set them on His knees. when our Lord would touch the eyes of the blind and they could see, or a leper who had been cast out of society is healed and sent away, and now for a moment Judas must have had a fleeting thought, I cannot do this. I have betrayed the Saviour. I'll bow down on my knees in front of Him, and I'll cry, Dear Lord Jesus, have mercy, forgive me. I have betrayed you. And I believe that had Judas done so, Jesus would have said, I forgive you. You can be my child. I'll save you by my grace. But know, if ye have had such a thought, there rises a louder voice that says, Judas, this is your pride speaking. What would they think of you now if you bowed down in front of all these fellows? You bow down in front of the disciples, right over there's Simon Peter, and there's John and Thomas. What would they think of you if you said, oh, I've been in this company these years, but I have never known Christ as a personal Savior? What would they say? Let me tell you this, it'll matter little what somebody thinks of you when you stand before God. It's not going to make any difference what people say. My friend, you're dealing with an immortal, eternal, never-dying soul. Don't be so foolish as to fear man and what his thoughts may be. Just make sure that you have been born of God's Holy Spirit into His family. Jesus was arrested and they carried Him away and left you to standing alone. And the only thing he's left with was thirty pieces of silver. I can imagine that he's looked down now and sees those thirty pieces. And somehow when he looks into his hand at what he had gained, the golden beams of the moon reflected on those coins. And now they seem to be a thousand accusing fingers pointing at Judas, reminding him of what he's done. You've sold your soul for thirty pieces of silver. You've sold your eternal destiny for that that perishes. And the Bible said he runs behind the group and passes them, goes to where the chief priests and elders are gathered, and now with that thirty pieces of silver, he runs into the temple, throwing the coins on the floor, and they echo like cathedral bells throughout that temple. And I hear the pathetic voice of Judas say, I have sinned. in that I have betrayed thee, innocent blood." And coldly, as religion always is cold, turned and said, see thou to that. You made the bargain. You made the deal. You'll have to take care of that. And the Bible said, Judas turned and went away and went out and hanged himself. What a scene! Bowels gushed out, jagged rocks and a ravine below. But sadder and beyond that scene of jagged rocks and bursted body is the soul of a man in the hell for all these centuries. For he went to his own place, the Bible said. Let me give you in about five or ten minutes a parallel to this man's life. My life would have been the same and would have ended the same had not the grace of God made the difference. I was born in 1934 in Highlands, North Carolina. A neighbor insisted that I be christened as a child, and I was christened in the Episcopal Her desire was that, providing my education by her funds, that I'd one day become a rector in the Episcopal Church. If I had become a rector, you'd have to spell it with a W instead of an R. But that was religious. That was a religious environment. We moved from North Carolina to Georgia. My mom was not a Christian. She was a professed Christian. But I remember one Sunday afternoon, and this has been years ago, some will remember, some will not. Dr. Charles E. Fuller of the Old Fashioned Revival Hour used to be on the radio. At that time, old Dr. Fuller was one of the great gospel preachers. And I remember sitting in the living room, and Mama would have that radio on. And when Dr. Fuller would give the invitation for people in the audience to trust Christ, He had extended an invitation to people who listen by radio. And he said that afternoon, if you're listening by radio, and you realize that you have never really received Christ and you want to do so, I want you to bow right now and invite Christ in your heart. I'll never forget as a boy seeing my mother slip out of her chair, kneel on her knees in front of an old-fashioned radio. With tears that glistened and streamed down her face, I heard her say, Oh God, I am a sinner. I ask you to save me and forgive my sin, come into my heart and my life. I'll tell you from that day until her death and until my father's death, our home was never the same. My dad was a professed Christian, but he had drifted away from the Lord. And so, as a result of mom's salvation, we children were taken to church. There was a vacation Bible school in 1946. And there, along with some other children, I made a profession of faith that I have no memory of. I used to become disturbed about my salvation, And I would go into my grandmother's room and I'd say, Granny, tell me about that time I got saved. And Granny would tell me about how tender a little child I was, and I went forward along with other children to become a Christian. Now, don't misunderstand me. I believe children can be saved. But to me, it was something that I knew nothing about. And I got to thinking one day, I wonder if when we stand before the judgment and I am asked, what you have done with Christ, will I have to say, Granny, come and tell Him. Salvation is a personal matter. It's an individual thing. I remember the Methodist people who had a revival in our church, our Baptists, The Baptist Methodist Church were out together, and this in the days when churches were, in some ways, very similar. And we'd go over to the Revival meeting. The Baptist Church would go over for the Methodist Revival and vice versa. I'll never forget one night, the Methodist Evangelist gave a message, gave the invitation, and I noticed several of my buddies I hadn't paid any attention to what was going on, but they walked out and started down the aisle. And the evangelist said, now if you wish to join this church or the Baptist church, you come forward. Well, I didn't want to be left out. So I walked down with my buddies. The preacher patted me on the head and said, son, you're doing the right thing. No one took a Bible. No one prayed with me. No one showed me how to become a child of God. And yet, just a pat on the head, by coming forward, I'd done the right thing. But oh, how miserable. Our revival meeting later years started in our church, and there was an old-fashioned preacher who one night said, if you are here and you do not really know your saved, and you want me to pray for you, indicate it by slipping your hand up. I'll never forget having realized the need in my heart, an emptiness there. I remember putting my hand up and hearing the preacher say, God bless you, son. I'll be praying for you. I wanted to go forward that night and say to the church and the preacher, I want to really be saved. I've never trusted Christ as my Savior, and I want Him as my Savior. But that voice from within said, what will they think about you? Your dad's a deacon, your mom's a Sunday school teacher, you've already joined the church over in the Methodist meeting. Pride smothered that sense of conviction. And then I had a strange knowledge as a young teenage boy. I can't explain this, and I don't try to. Even though I was not saved at the moment, somehow I felt I knew that I'd be a preacher someday. Now how to explain that? I can't, any more than I explain to him how John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit and Jeremiah was called of God before there was ever born. I don't know that. Don't ask me, I have no answer. But I knew that, and I knew as a boy, I just had, somehow I just had to preach, and I had a little New Testament with the backs torn off, and gave me a little cardboard pulpit, and I'd go down to the basement and take my dog with me named Jughead. And I'd preach to Jughead. I'd tell him, listen, you'd better quit this running around. You'd better stop doing the way you're doing. And Jughead would sit there, turn his head this way, back that way, scratch, you know, remind me of some audiences I preach to. And yet, that was just in me. Well, my brother, who attended this school, was passing a little church way up in the mountains. We met in an old army hospital tent. When I was 14 years of age, I said to him, say, you know, I sure would like to preach up there. And we didn't have about 12 or 15 people. And he said, now wait a minute, do you feel called to preach? And I said, well, I don't, I guess. I said, I sure do want to preach. Well, he said, do you want to be called of God to preach? And I said, well, Bill, I've got something I'd really like to say to the people. Well, he said, I don't want to stand in your way, but he said, I don't want to encourage you in something you ought not to be in. But he said, OK, we'll be about seven or eight folks there tonight. So he said, I guess it'll be all right. I preached the first sermon I ever preached in my life. And I want to tell you what I preached. I preached the text, Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. I could do just like my old mountain preachers did. I've pointed my finger at that crowd and I've told them, you've got to be born again. But I failed to see the three fingers that were pointing back at me. And yet, somehow, I needed deep inside to know Him as Savior. I pastored the first church I ever pastored as a young man, 18 years of age. I used to have men who would work and witness and pray. When I'd preach in that pulpit, I'm going to be honest, in this confession, though he's not here, he's in heaven now, I used to preach Dr. Bob Senior's sermons. What he'd preach in chapel, I'd preach to my people. People would say, man, you're a great preacher. Young man. I never did give him credit. But they'd pray and go and behold, people would come forward. They wanted to be saved. And they'd frighten me, and I'd say to some of the deacons, I'd say, you men, take this fellow and show him. Show him how to be saved. And I was in that church for a good while. And then there came a turning point in my life. A preacher invited me to come down and lead the music in an area-wide, city-wide crusade in Barnville, South Carolina. We met in an old tobacco warehouse. People came with a droll, an old sawdust, shaven floor. People had come far, broken, under conviction, wanting to be saved. And I'd stand there as this hungry and elite and just as I am or something, and down deep in my heart I'd sing, oh, that's what I need to do. I need to make that surrender. And that same old voice would say, but what would they say? What would people think? And I'd refuse to respond. I've got to close. Bear with me just another moment. I remember at the final night of that meeting, the preacher and I were getting ready to leave. And a man of that group came over and he said, Preacher, he said, would you and the song leader come over to my house? And I have a son who's lost. I believe he needs to trust Christ tonight. And before I could say, no sir, I can't, but he can, the evangelist said, we'll both be there. Both the song leader and I, we'll be there. And so we drove over. Construction workers building the Savannah River project. Houses, just trailers everywhere. I'll never forget that place called Jackson 45. We walked inside. There was a young man seated on a couch. I walked over and sat down in a chair behind a little table that folded down out of the wall. And I remember the pastor, preacher, looked at this young man after saying a few words and said, son, we've come to talk. I want to ask you a question tonight. Are you a Christian? And the young man kind of squared his shoulder and said, well, sir, I guess so. He said, I'm a member of the First Christian Church up here. And the preacher so humbly said, I'm sorry, you misunderstood me. I wasn't concerned about where you churched, what church you belonged to, but have you ever been born again, son? Have you ever received Christ as your Savior? And that boy fell into conviction and dropped his face and he said, no sir, I can't say that I've ever done that. The preacher proceeded to tell him how he could be born again. As I sat there listening, though the preachers told that young man, the voice of God's Spirit is talking to me. It was saying to him that night, Son, I've called you and called you and called you. Tonight you need, you must trust Him. Now, I can't explain a lot of things about this, but though I've never heard an audible voice from heaven, It seemed the Lord said in my heart, Son, I've called and called and called, and you've refused. But now it's tonight or never. It's now or never. And with that impression of heart, I buried my face in my hands, and for the first time ever in my life, I confessed, Oh God, I am a sinner. My prayers used to be, O Lord, if I should be a sinner and if I should be lost, there's no question about it, I was a sinner. And I asked Him to come into my life, my heart. And that night, He came into my heart and became my Savior. The joy of heaven flooded my soul. It's been there ever since. Oh, I want to tell you something, folks. The devil, if he can, will make you religious, but keep you away from Christ. I prayed and prayed and said, Lord, I don't know what you want me to preach in the conference on Thursday night. I don't know why, Lord, you want me here, but maybe there's somebody, somebody in this audience who's struggled with this very thing in your life. Oh, that you would acknowledge the fact of your condition before God if you never have. and ask Him to come in your heart. Now listen, what I've talked to you about is no new doctrine. It's the same old truth throughout the Old Testament, and that is, He that hath the Son hath life. It is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I trust that if you haven't, you'll do so tonight. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Heavenly Father, You alone know our hearts. And I believe a great multitude of people in this audience can truthfully say, there has been that moment of time in my life when I knew I was a sinner and I came to Jesus Christ. Thank You for that. But if there is someone who is struggling tonight, struggling with this matter, Oh, that they would bow in humble repentance and turning of heart, turning away from themselves and turning to Jesus Christ. You've been listening to the Chapel Hour, coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University. Our speaker was Rev. Walter Burrell, pastor of Return Baptist Church in Demarest, Georgia. For a cassette copy of today's message, send a check for $6 to Campus Store, Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina 29614. Be sure to mention the name of the speaker and today's date. The chapel hour has been sponsored by Bob Jones University.