00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
I just want to read with you
tonight two short verses from this chapter. Jesus Christ was
the greatest preacher that ever lived and the servant of God
was the greatest servant that was ever preached. It begins
in Matthew chapter five and concludes at the end of Matthew It's food of practical teaching
and it's also food of warning and the second chapter or the
second half rather of chapter seven, there's a lot of solid
words of the savior praise. So, we're going to read some
of those words this evening. Matthew chapter seven verses
thirteen and fourteen. Will you listen as we read the
word of god together? The son of god, the lord Jesus
Christ, full of Let me read those words again. Verse thirty. Enter ye in at
the straight gate. For wide is the gate and and many there be which go in
their abbey, which straightens the gate, and narrows the way,
which leadeth on to life, and few there be that find it. We know tonight that God has
promised to bless his word and to magnify his word above his
very name. It's a blessing promised at the
beginning of scripture. Let's pray together and thank
the Lord. Father, we are so thankful once We thank you for the grace of
god and everything that has gone on before. We thank you for the
singing of thy praise of thee. Uplifting of thy name and the
opening of thy word to me. Thank you lord for the word of
testimony as well. We thank you lord for Daniel
for saving him. Whenever he was just a young
man, for giving him to his teenage years and now into adulthood.
We thank you lord for the desires to put in his heart to serve
the what God can do, what he's done
for others, he can do for you. And Lord, we pray for all that
are gathered within this temple, young and old. We pray that you
will lead us tonight at the point of need. Speak, O God, in their
hearts and lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. And we ask
now, God, I will grant liberty and grant they grace and help
as we consider the gospel together. We're very conscious of God and
we have a very real enemy. He wants to snatch away the good
seed. He wants to mine the minds of
them that believe not. Father, we take authority in
the Savior's name. We thank you, God, for the power
of the Savior's blood. We ask, O God, thou wilt be pleased
to put a hedge around about this thing. And grant, O God, that
my son will be exalted. The presence of God will fill
this place. and honor, praise, and glory
will be brought to the seniors here. I pray lord for my help.
I'll be behind the cross. Tell me oh god with my spirit.
I'm glad that my day and my parish will be for god in the eyes and
minds of men. But I'm lifted magnified and
unified son. For he alone is worthy. And it's
for his name. And for thy glory we pray. Take
it away. Istanbul in Turkey is the fifth
largest city in the world, inhabited by 12 million people. It's one
of the most dangerous places to live in this world, because
the city of Istanbul is situated on a fault line. And in 1999,
there was a tremendous earthquake that claimed the lives of 40,000
people. And around about that time, they
predicted that within 25 years, there would be an even greater
earthquake. is a very dangerous place to
live. But it's not the most dangerous place to live on the face of
God's Earth. There's an island off the coast
of Brazil. They call it Snake Island. It
is filled with thousands and thousands of reptile snakes.
They say that for every five to 10 square meters, there's
at least one deadly rattlesnake. And for that reason, Snake Island
is inhabited by them. It's one of the most dangerous
places you can live on the face of the earth. But it's not the
most dangerous place. Death Valley in Nevada is the
hottest place on the face of the earth. Sometimes the temperatures
are soar to 57 degrees centigrade. And you can't survive, they say,
for more than 14 hours without water. It's a very dangerous
place. But it's not the most dangerous
place in the face of God's earth. Naples in Italy is a beautiful
city. It's got a beautiful setting.
Many people go there for holidays. And it's inhabited by some 650,000
people. It's a beautiful setting. But
it's a dangerous place to live because it's surrounded by volcanoes. And they say that if just one
of those volcanoes began to erupt, It would result in trying to
evacuate some one million people from that city and the outlying
areas. Naples is a dangerous place to
live. But it's not the most dangerous
place upon the face of God's earth. San Pedro Sula is a city
in Honduras. They say that it's the murder
capital of the world because of drugs and prostitution and
arms dealing. San Pedro Sula. is the place
on the face of the earth where you're most likely to be murdered
or kidnapped or never seen again. These are dangerous places, but
dear friend, tonight they are not the most dangerous place
upon the face of God's earth. I want to speak tonight for a
little while about the most perilous place on planet earth. The most perilous place on planet
earth is the broad road that the Lord Jesus Christ himself
spoke about in Matthew's Gospel chapter seven and verse number
thirteen. If you're in this meeting tonight
and you're outside of Christ, and you're still in your sin,
and you're still under the condemnation of God, and you're still on the
broad road that leads to destruction, can I say to my friends with
love in my heart on planet earth. Here in Matthew's
Gospel chapter seven is the Lord Jesus, the son of God, a man
full of mercy, a man full of grace, a man full of truth, brings
a sermon in the mouth to a conclusion. And he says to his students,
he pleads with them and he says, enter ye in at the straight gate. For broad is the gate, and broad
is the way, and many there be which go in thereof. I want to
ask you tonight, are you on the broad road? Or are you on the
narrow road that leads to heaven and leads to home? If you think
for just a moment or two about these two roads that the Savior
speaks about, you will notice that there's no mention at all
of any religious groups on these roads. There's no mention of
social class on either of these roads. There's no mention here
of financial status on either of these roads. There's no mention
here of age groups on either of these roads. The Savior simply
says that one road is broad and leads to destruction, and the
other road is narrow and it leads to life and it leads to heaven
and leads on. Now shortly after Adam sinned
in the garden of Eden, the Lord came walking in the midst of
the garden, the crude of the day, and he called out and said,
Adam, where am I? And I believe that in the gospel
meeting and in the gospel mission like this, the Lord draws near
and the Lord challenges hearts. And maybe tonight in this meeting,
God is asking you, where are you in the road of life? Which
road are you on? Are you on the narrow road that
leads to heaven? Or are you still in that awful
broad road that leads to destruction? I say tonight, the Broad Road
is the most perilous place on planet Earth. And I want tonight
to give you six very simple reasons why I believe that is so. First of all, the Broad Road
is the most perilous place on planet Earth, because whenever
you're on the Broad Road, you have an unforgiving past behind
you. An unforgiving past behind you. who the Bible says in the book
of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse number 15, that God requireth
that which is past. The Bible presents a picture
of God as one who is just, one who is righteous, and one who
is holy. God cannot turn a blind eye to
sin. God must deal with sin and therefore
trying to turn over a new leaf and trying to start afresh, will
not really come up with God because God requires that which is passed. And if you're not a believer
tonight and you're not saved and you've never been born again
and you've never trusted Christ the Savior as Lord and as master,
I want to tell you on the authority of this book that you've got
an unforgiven past behind you. Now, maybe tonight you have Maybe tonight you have tried
to cover up some of your sins. God still sees them. Moses, one
day in Exodus chapter two, slew an Egyptian with his bare hands.
And he looked to the left and to the right, and at last he
found a place to bury this Egyptian. And the Bible says he buried
him in the sand. And Moses thought that nobody
had been watching. But oh, he forgot that the Lord
sees all things. The Lord sees the things that
are done openly. The Lord sees the things that
are done behind closed doors. And the Lord sees in their very
hearts and in their very eyes. And the word of God says that
your sin ultimately will find you out. Be sure that your sin
will find you out. If you live and die with an unforgiving
past behind you, that past will follow you all the way to the
Great White River. Be sure your signal will find
you. Now, many years ago, there was a English naval vessel that
was traveling in the Atlantic Ocean. It was coming close to
the coast of Jamaica. And they came across what they
believed was a pirate ship. But that pirate, the chief pirate,
the captain pirate within that ship was a very crafty man. There he looked through his telescope,
and he saw this naval vessel coming behind him. He called
for one of the men in the ship to take all of the records of
where the pirate ship had been and put them in a big bundle
and threw them overboard so that they could not be traced for
time. And so whenever they last found themselves in the harbor
in Kingston in Jamaica, the ship was searched for the last, nothing
could be pinned upon them because there were no records that had
been kept of where the ship had been, or at the very least, the
records of the boats. But right about the same time,
there was a fishing boat out at sea. They saw a great white
shark, and they fired at our crew with the shark, and they
brought it onto the deck of the ship, and they caught its stomach
open. And would you believe it, inside the stomach of that shark,
there was a big scroll, and it was the records of where the
pirates shipped it in. And they brought them to the
magistrates in Kingston, and there was enough evidence to
convict the pirates. of your crimes. Be sure your
sins will find you out. You have an unforgiving past
tonight, perhaps, behind you. And someday that past, ultimately,
will catch up with you. In 2 Samuel chapter 3, we read
about a man called Abner. He had murdered somebody in revenge.
Somebody was coming hot in his heels, and Abner began to run
to a city of refuge, a place where he could at least be safe
for a little season, though at last he pleaded his case. But
the strange thing about Abner, whenever he got just to the very
gates of that city of refuge, he stopped just a couple of steps
outside the city gates. And a revenger of blood caught
up with him and thrust him through with a sword, and Abner, died
just outside the gates of the city of refuge. Whenever his
funeral cortege was going by, David, the king of Israel, stood
up and said, died out there as a fool died. Died out there as
a fool died. If he had just taken another
couple of steps and stepped within the gates of that city of refuge
he would have been saved. But rather than taking those
extra steps, he stopped. and his past caught up with him,
and Abner was cut off from the tribal land. I want to tell you,
friends, tonight there's a city of refuge. There's a place of
safety. There's a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's hands, and sinners who plunge
beneath that flood, they lose all their guilty sins, and there's
nobody tonight within the walls of this tent that's beyond the
reach of God's salvation. and if you tonight were to take
just one step of faith and trust Christ as Savior, as Lord and
as Master, your past could be forgiven and your soul could
be saved and you could be cleansed and redeemed and set free. The
Bible speaks about the Son of God giving his life upon the
cross for the remission of sins that are past. But unless you
come to Christ, you will always have that unforgiven past behind
you. And that's why the broad road
is the most perilous place on planet earth. Because you've
got an unforgiving past behind you. Furthermore, whenever you're
on the broad road, not only is there an unforgiving past behind
you, but there's an unhappy God above you. An unhappy God above
you. Now there's nothing I like to
preach on more than the love of God. There's nothing that
delights my soul more than thinking about the love of Christ and
the great love in the heart of God that brought the Savior from
above to die on a cross outside of City Wall. And I take great
pleasure and great delight in telling men and women that God
loves them. And that God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in heaven should not perish but have everlasting life. But if
I am to be faithful to God, I'm faithful to this book. I'm faithful
to your soul. I also have to remind you that
the Bible not only speaks about the love of God but it speaks
about the wrath of God. Not only does the word of God
speak about the grace of God, it speaks about the judgment
of God. The Bible not only speaks about
the mercy of God, it speaks about the righteousness of God. The
Bible says in Psalm with the wicked every single
day. God looks down on this world
and God sees exactly what's going on in the same Genesis chapter
six of Noah's day that God looked down from heaven and God saw
that the whole world had corrupted itself before God and that every
imagination of the thoughts of men's hearts was only evil Does God not have a right tonight
to be angry with this world as it is? I meet people all the
time and somebody said to me recently, well, if there's a
God and if there's a Savior, why doesn't he sort out all the
rising fuel prices? Why doesn't God reduce our taxes? Why doesn't God fix this broken
world? Why doesn't God put money in
our bank accounts? Why doesn't God make us all fit
and healthy. You know, we have this idea that
if there's a god out there, he's almighty. He should just solve
our problems and let us continue to live and repent it against
him. Dear friends, I believe tonight that god is every right
to be angry when he looks at this world of ours and he sees
the sin in it and he sees injustice in it and he sees murder and
he sees theft and he sees lies and he sees violence and he sees trampled underfoot, and his name
dragged through the gutter, and his word cast off to one side,
and his son despised and rejected. The Bible says that those who
believe not are condemned already. I wonder how God tonight used
you. I wonder tonight how God used
him. Do you honestly think tonight that there's God which died in
your life and you're not yet a believer? And why is love in
God's heart for sinners? Do you not think tonight that
God has every right to judge you, to punish you, as you reject
his son, as you reject God's love, and you reject God's mercy,
and you reject God's grace, and you don't fulfill your purpose
in this world to glorify God and to enjoy him forever? I say
tonight in the authority of Philistines that why God loves this world. God is not happy with this world.
The Bible says He's angry with the wicked every day. The people
in Lua's day, whenever Lua was raised up by God to prepare an
army, and to be a preacher of righteousness for dead beings,
the generation in Lua's day never concluded that they were in any
sort of danger. So it was with the people of
Lot's day. Maybe tonight, you've never considered
that you're in danger, living in that broad room. And such
was the grace of the mercy in the heart of the seer that is
that large crowd assembled that day on that hillside that the
Lord bore dead and exhorted them, enter into the street gate. For
broad is the road that leads to destruction. And many there
be which find. Do not assume tonight that all
is well. You're not a believer and you've never given your life
to Christ and you've never conceived Him. All of this is not well.
You've an unforgiving pastime. You've an unhappy God above you.
But furthermore, the Bible also says there's an unending hell
beneath you. And Isaiah chapter 14 and verse
number 90 are words that were written to the king of Babylon,
who was a type of Lucifer at that particular time, and the
word of God says there, Hell from beneath thee is moved to
meet thee at thy coming. Scripture says in Revelation
20 that on the last day that the devil shall be cast into
the lake of fire. And then death and hell shall
be passed into the lake of fire. And then those who do not trust
in the Lord shall ultimately follow suit, granting absolutely
no pleasure at all in speaking about hell and damnation and
death and judgment God said to the prophet Ezekiel, son of man,
I've sent you as a watchman unto the house of Israel. And when
I say unto the wicked, O wicked, thou shalt surely die. And thou
givest him not warning to warn that wicked from his ways, that
wicked shall die of sins. But his blood will I require. And I have. I must be faithful
tonight to my God. Faithful tonight to this moon.
Faithful tonight to my conscience. faithful to my personal and tell
you that the scriptures of truth speak about death. The Bible
says hell is living. The Bible says hell and destruction
are never satisfied. The Bible even says that hell
is a man whose scriptures warn us. Old Testament and new over
and over and over again about the seriousness of the consequences
of dying in our sins but furthermore the savior himself. The Lord
Jesus Christ, so compassionate, so kind, and so tender, spoke
more about hell than any other preacher in the word of God.
That's how first American evangelist, he was preaching once in a church,
he was declaring the gospel, and in the course of his address,
he warned the congregation about the possibility of ending up
in a lost eternity. and he spent a little while in
the course of the sermon speaking about heaven judgment and the
lady came up to him after the service and she was extremely
irate and she took him by the hand and she says, Mr. Hafner,
we are respectable people. Why can't you come to our church
and talk about the meek and lowly Jesus? Mr. Hafner said to her, my dear friend,
it was from the meek and lowly Jesus that I got all of my information. I'm not sure tonight what church
or what denomination you're from. You might be Roman Catholic. You might be Church of Ireland.
You might be Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, all of the historic
church And that's why this broad road
is such a perilous place. Because whenever you're on the
broad road, there's an unforgiving past behind you. There's an unhappy
God above you. There's an unending hell beneath
you. And perhaps as well, unseeable
prompts all around you. Can I ask you tonight, what are
you trusting in? Whenever the storms and the trials
of life come, Whenever the hard times come, what's your faith
and your trust and your confidence in it? Daniel in his testimony
spoke about those difficult and those hard times and those dark
times that often come and to the lives of us all. The tree
is gone in the midst of it all. There's a rock through the steadfast
of Don Jubalon. To him, I could say, rock of
ages, left for me, left behind myself in thee. and the water
and the blood from thy riven side which loath thee for sin
the double cure cleanse thee from its gilded power but friends
tonight I ask you what's your confidence in tonight? What's
your trust in this evening? Whenever the storms of life happen
and then whenever you have to leave this world and go out into
the great eternity what's your trust and what's your confidence
in? You know there's only one thing in all the world that's
worse than having no and that's having a false hope. There's
only one thing in all the world worse than having no hope. And
that's having a false hope. You get me a man or a woman who
says, listen, there's no hope for me. You can point an individual
like that to the cross. Point him to the son of God who
shed his blood to redeem us from all iniquity and is able to save
and set men free. But you get an individual who's
got a false hope, it's very hard to convince him that they need
Christ. The word of God says in the book
of Proverbs and verse twenty-eight that the execution of the wicked
shall perish. And I ask you, what are you trusting
in? What is your hope for heaven?
Maybe you say tonight that I'm a relatively good person. I don't
really do anybody any harm. I provide for my family. I I'm
honorable in the workplace. I And I'm a relatively good person,
and I don't believe that there's ever a possibility that somebody
like me to be lost. Well, maybe on a horizontal level,
you're a good person. And you're a good neighbor, and
you're a good citizen. But as far as our vertical relationship
with the Almighty is concerned, Scripture says there's none righteous,
no one wrong. There's nothing to do with good.
We are all as an unclean thing. When all the righteousness are
filthy rags and all we like sheep have gone astray. You may say
that I can find the medicine. God is too kind and loving. I'm
merciful to die and water costs and water. Praise the word of
god for all the sins. Psalm nine verse number seventeen. that the wicked shall be You may say to me, well, I try
my best and I've got my church. I attend a piece of worship Sunday
by Sunday and well, that's good enough for me. I put money in
the field and I come out from time to time and you know, everybody
likes me and the pastor will. He's got a good word for me as
well and I'm a religious person and surely, all religions lead
to god. No religions lead to god. There's
only one that can The scripture says, neither is
there salvation in any other. For there's no other name under
heaven, let alone man, whereby he must be saved. The scripture
records that there is one God and one mediator between God
and man, the non-Christ Jesus. Maybe tonight you say, well,
years and years and years ago, I did a profession of theism.
Yes, I granted my life never changed. I never followed the
Lord. I never really loved the Lord
or witnessed for the Lord. I'm far from god tonight but
surely as long as I've got a little profession somewhere that will
cut with god. That's enough. Reverend Duncan Campbell used
to say, men are drifted to hell over the weight of the decision
and we're cursed with professions today. It's possession I'm interested
in tonight. Not merely a profession of Bible says, if any man is of
Christ, he's a new creature. All things are passed away, behold,
all things are become good. Are you walking in units of life
this evening? Has your life been changed by
the grace of God? Can you say tonight, my Jesus,
I love thee, I know thou art mine, for behold, the pleasures
of sin, I resound in thee tonight. Can you say, well, I don't really
feel that I'm in any sort of danger. Whenever news filtered through
that the Titanic had struck an iceberg and was sinking, and
they need to evacuate and get onto a lifeboat, the majority
of the people just sat in their beds, sat at their dinner tables,
sat listening to the band, standing in rafts under swimming pools
to enjoy the recreation of the big ship. And many of the lifeboats
that went out to begin with went out half empty. Because nobody
believed that the unsinkable Titanic was actually sinking.
Many of them felt that they were in no danger at all, and that
didn't change the reality. All the stable props are up.
What's your hope tonight for heaven? Dr. Harry Ironside, the
great Bible teacher of Moody Church in Chicago, tells the
story of a young man who was sickle-jacked by profession,
and then became a public entertainer, a surrogate Muslim, or he called
himself a human fly. One of the great buildings in
the city of Los Angeles, one of the great hotels, he began
to ski on the side of this hotel. Hundreds of people gathered on
the sidewalk to watch this human fly, scaling the side of this
building across window ledges and bricks, including his finger,
in between the bricks of the mortar. Up he rode, story after
story. At last, there he is, almost
at the very top. He seemed to pause. He couldn't
seem to find anything to hold on to. He reached for what looked
like a grey stone jutting out of the very top of the building,
but couldn't reach it. And then with one cat-like movement,
he sprung from his feet and laid hold upon that, and tragically
fell to the pavement and perished in the cycle. And what he thought
was something solid, that he could hold on to to get him to
the top, turned out to be just a simple spider's web. And he
was holding on to something. who was not able to take us away
from him. And the only one who's able to
take away the mercy is the Lord Jesus Christ. Beyond that cross
of Calvary shed his precious blood. There was none other good
enough to pay the price for sins. Jesus only could unlock the gates
of heaven and let us in. You see tonight why we're saying
the broad road is the most terrible place on planet earth? Because
when you're on the broad road, there's an unforgiving pastime
There's an unhappy God above you. There's an unending hell
beneath you. There's unstable props all around
you. And there's also a very uncertain
future before you. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 1 says,
most not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day
they bring forth. The future now more than ever
in this world of ours seems to be so, so, so uncertain. The events of the last two and
a half years have surely shown us that we cannot bank upon the
security of financial institutions, and parliaments, and public representatives,
and world leaders, because it's just incredible how things change
so quickly. Things nowadays seem to be so
uncertain, so obscure. Not only internationally, nationally,
and locally, but also personally. Towers who stood up from their
beds this morning and throughout the course of the last 12 hours
or day was changed radically. They knew their lives were changed
forever. Time is so uncertain. Time is so unsure. There's only
two things that we can be absolutely sure and certain of when they're
both spoken about in Hebrews 9.57. And that is a disappointment
on demand once to die. But after this, the judges. Those
are the only two things that we as individuals tonight can
be absolutely sure of. Death, and every great death
judgment. It's a point that Audemars wants
to that. They say on average that every
single hour, somewhere in the region of 6,316 people die globally. Over 6,000 people have gone into
eternity across the world since we signed the first humanistic
They say that 5,000 people, 56 million people rather, die every
single year. The human mortality rate is 100%.
One out of one die. Death is the most democratic
thing in all the world because every single one of us will get
to participate. None of us are getting out of
this world alive and yet there's a very real conspiracy of science
about death. Nobody likes to talk about death.
Nobody likes to think about death. Nobody really likes to prepare
for death. We struggle to prepare for funerals. We struggle to prepare for wills. We struggle to think about all
of those things, like insurance. But still more, we struggle to
think about eternity, where we will be five minutes after we
die. None of us tonight really know
how we will die, when we will die, or where we will die. But
we all know that for certain we will die. And if we just die
and that was it, that would be bad enough. But the scripture
says there's an after this. Death is not the end. Death is
not secession. Death is not annihilation. Death
is but a door that leads us and ushers us out into eternity.
And the scripture says, it's appointed of the man once to
die, and the man for this judgment. And some days you stand, having
lived your life in the broad road, and left this seat of time
from the broad road, and you stand before that great judgment
throne of God, and that unforgiving past catches up with you, and
you meet that unhappy God before you, and yes, you discover that
there really is an unending hell beneath you, and all of those
unstable props around you are absolutely worthless. How will
it be for you then? The Bible says the boots will
be opened and the dead will be judged out of the things that
are written in those books. The broad road is the most perilous
place on earth. For those five reasons, unforgiving
past time, unhappy God above you, unending hell beneath you,
unstable props around you, on certain future before you. But
then lastly, the broad road is the most perilous place on earth.
Because whenever you're on the broad road, you've got an unsaved
soul within you. An unsaved soul within you. Whenever God created man, back
there in Genesis chapter one, two, and three, the scripture
says, if God breathed in the house dust, means the breath
of life, the man became a living soul. And that distinguishes
man from the animal world. These bodies of ours are not
really us, they're just the houses that we live in. The real personalities
of the inside, the Bible calls that the soul, that's the real
you, that the soul was made for fellowship with God. And whenever
a person dies, the soul begets the body and is ushered out into
the great eternity to await the great resurrection day. That's
why oftentimes whenever somebody is lying in a coffin or in a
casket, we will often say, they've gone. They've left us. But the body, the frame, the
house, the chemical matters, the elements, they're all still
there. But the real personality, the real soul, the principle
of life is gone. And there's something about life
that's mysterious. We can't really explain it. It's
a remarkable thing that in the scientific world, there is no
recognized definition for what life actually is. We can observe
the vital signs of life, but nobody can really explain what
life actually is. Because life, as the Bible defines
it, is a spiritual entity. You're not just a physical entity
and an emotional entity. and a material entity. You are
a spiritual entity. God made you with a body, with
a soul, and with a spirit. And someday your soul will be
required of you. It was said to the rich young
fool that his soul will be required of him. Hebrews 10, 39 speaks
about the saving of the soul through faith. Psalm 49 says
the redemption of the soul is precious. So precious is one
human soul that the son of God went to a cross and shed his
blood. Took the wrath of God, offered
up his soul as a sacrifice to the saints. I believe he would
have got mad if he didn't want the sinner to work. That's how much he loves us.
That's how valuable you are to him. That's how valuable your
soul is. Many are living in a world tonight without worth. without
purpose. They feel hopeless. They feel
worthless. They feel unloved and they feel unwanted. And yet,
remember, God made you. He made you in his own image.
He made you and formed you and fashioned you so that you could
come to know him and walk with him and love him and serve him
because he saw our sins and cut us off from it. He sent his son
to die on a cross to Many, many years ago, whenever
North America was being settled along that east coast, ship after
ship was leaving Ireland and England and other places to go
across the Atlantic Ocean. Many people were transporting
their wealth by any means possible. One very wealthy farmer had sold
up his farm, sold his possessions, gone to the jewelers, and with
his money had purchased a large diamond so that he could store
his wealth from Ireland across the Atlantic Ocean sell it in
New York City or some other place, and set up home in America. And
there he was, well-dressed, standing on the deck of the ship, and
the ocean was like glass, the sun was shining, there wasn't
a breeze, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the ship wasn't
making much progress. And the young deckhand who had
virtually nothing of this world's good was working away in the
deck, getting things in shape, if you like. And he looked at
this wealthy gentleman reaching into his coat pocket, and he
brought out that big diamond. And he held up to the sun, and
he turned it round, and it threw the sun's rays in all directions.
A little boy stood transfixed as this man was handling this
diamond. Then he took it, and he threw
it up into the air to get attention for himself, and he caught it
in his hand. With that, the young deckhand went over and said,
sir, can I ask you, is that a diamond ring? He said, it certainly is. And they explained the story
that all of his wealth and all of his inheritance had been given
over and sold and bought this diamond that was transporting
all his wealth across the Atlantic to America. And the little boy
said, sir, when you're a very foolish man, handling it so frivolously
like that and throwing it up in the air, such was his confidence
that he looked the young boy in the face and he threw the
diamond up again and he smiled at the young boy and he reached
out his hand to catch it and bunched off his fingers He hit
the deck, rolled across the deck of the ship, and out to the porthole
on the side of the ship, down into the deep waters of the Atlantic
Ocean. And then the little boy said,
sir, I'm richer than you are, now. And he went back, and the
man had lost everything. You would say, rightly, that
man's a fool. And yes, he is. Dear friend,
in the journey of life, that ship represents your life. That
ocean represents God's great eternity. And that diamond represents
your precious son. And some of you tonight are halting
between two opinions. And you've never given your life
to Jesus Christ. And you're in danger of being
lost forever. What a perilous place the Broadland
is. It's a perilous place because
it's often a place that's comfortable. It's often a place that's prosperous.
It's often a place that's respectable. And it's a dangerous place because
many people don't even know that they're up here. But can I say
tonight, in focusing my way of contrast, that the safest place
you could possibly be on planet Earth is on that narrow road
that leads to heaven, and leads to hope. Jesus Christ, my Lord,
said, my sheep hear my voice tonight, and I give all to them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any
man put them out of my hand, a man with broad robe has an
unforgiving past to hide in, a believer on the narrow road.
The psalmist says, goodness and mercy follow me all the days
of my life. A man with broad robe has an
unending hell beneath it, an unsecure prop surrounding. A
believer on the narrow road can say that underneath and round
about are the everlasting A person on the broad road as an unhappy
God above them. A believer on the narrow road
as a loving father who smiles above them. A person on the broad
road as an uncertain future before them. A Christian on the narrow
road as a heavenly hope before them. A person on the broad road
as an unseen soul within them. A person on the narrow road as
a soul that's seeking for time and freedom. I wonder tonight,
what road are you on? are running this perilous case
tonight on Planet Earth. Years and years ago, there was
a famous painting by Frederick Monty. He was a famous European
artist, and there was a painting of his that was stored in the
Louvre Museum in Paris. It was there for years, and the
title of the painting was Jet Wave. It's a very unusual painting. It depicts what he, tried to
depict as being the devil playing chess with a floor-looking man
with his head in his hands, looking down at the chessboard, and the
devil looking across with a smile on his face. And it seems that
he's got this young man cornered, and there's no moves that he
can make. And for years, I've stood in that art gallery, and
nobody questioned the integrity of the title checkboard, until
one day, a famous chess player came along. And he looked at
the painting, and he looked at the pieces on the board. He looked,
and he looked, and he stood there as they looked for minutes on
end, maybe even hours. Then last, he put up his hand
and called one of his friends over and says, there's an estate
witness here. It says, checkmate. But he says,
as far as I can see, it's not game over just yet. He says,
there's still one move that that young man can make. If the king
is moved from here to here, the whole game changes around and
the devil's the one knocking into a corner and he's the one
checking in as long as the king takes him in. Do you know where
we're going? There's a wonderful king. Jesus
Christ is his name. And whenever there's no hope
for any of us, he made that way. And he went to a cross. And maybe
you think tonight there's no hope for me. I tell you tonight,
there's all over the world as long as there's breath in your
lungs and as long as there's a bond in heaven and as long
as there's a wonderful gospel. You come tonight. Put your trust
in Jesus Christ. Don't live in the broad road
any longer but give your heart tonight to this evening. Start
out for heaven. Start out for hope. This meeting
is drawn to a close and I just want to mention again, he's in
the booklet saying this one's a new What must I do to be seated?
If you would like one or both of these good ones, speak to
me at the door. If you'd like to speak tonight
or speak to somebody else's ministers here tonight, the reverend McClernand,
the reverend Fred Greenfield, Pastor David Sly, the reverend
Eric Brewer, myself, and many other believers. Many people
tonight would love to appoint you to the seat. I pray tonight
in your heart. Don't leave if I don't by the
voice of Jesus. Let's pray. Let's pray as high
as god. We'll not sing anymore but that's just quietly and reverently.
Let's pray to the spirit of god. Let's every of every child of
god pray. Just even where you sit tonight.
Why don't call upon the lord? Why don't trust him as your savior?
Even though I give me your heart and give me your life. He'll
be with me. He's promised he'll never leave
you. Lord, have you not been tired
of your Let's start out for heaven. Let's
start out for an eternity of your sin and justice. Heavenly Father, write thy word
upon our hearts. That who God which has been sown
in weakness, we pray that the spirit of God will apply nightly
to the hearts and lives of men and women. And will God forbid
a even one here tonight that's on the Bring them to the scene. Change
their heart and change their life. I grant you, God, tonight
that they will take up the cross. Start out for heaven, start out
for me. I'll be able to go home tonight saying, it is well, it
is well with my soul. Father, hear and answer prayer.
Disperse us and part us without blessing. We humbly pray in the
Savior's name and for God's everlasting glory.
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth
Series Christ is the Answer
| Sermon ID | 911221125103660 |
| Duration | 47:39 |
| Date | |
| Category | Special Meeting |
| Language | English |
Documents
Add a Comment
Comments
No Comments
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.