Song of Solomon chapter 8. Brother Childs, would you like to know where that is in the Schofield Bible? Okay. Page 709. 709. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. Let me say a word about the musical recordings, and I don't think that we have mentioned all week about the tapes that will be available. Miss Cook We will include, where's Ms. Cook? We will include Thursday and Friday of Richard Harper's tapes. And why don't we do the nine tapes for $20, okay? Let's see, is that right? Now, what do we, we usually pay $2 a piece? That wouldn't be a very good deal, would it? So, we'll put a special on there, $30. Let's make it $15 for nine tanks. Can't beat that, folks. Can't beat that. That's probably about what we pay for them. And let me remind you about our latest CD, the two CDs and the one packet, $20 for 36 numbers. And Brother Scovel and Allison and Dwight Smith do a tenor trio down from his glory. And that's worth the price of the tape, and of course, or the CD. And on that CD, you have a Hallelujah Chorus by a hundred plus voice chorales. So that is an exciting recording that they have done. Also, let me mention, for the benefit of those of you who are visiting, we have every summer a tremendous summer deficit. This summer it was between $70,000 and $80,000, and so we are trying to do something to combat that, and we have started a couple years ago what's called the Team Club, T-E-M. Now again, we reiterate every time we mention this, we believe you're type goes in your local church. But if you should like to be a blessing to Ambassador over and above your normal giving to your local church, the TEM simply stands for $10 every month, $20 every month, $30 every month. And Frank Bailey back there, we could put $1,000 every month. But whatever you'd like to put with that T, The EM is every month, and then if you'll get involved in that, we'll give you a green card to fill out, and we'll give you a tape of the ensemble, More Than Amazing. And Miss Bradnick will be down here at the table after the service. And the bookstore, Miss Cook, is open after the service. All right. Song of Solomon, Chapter 8. Did you find it, Brother Childs? Good. Amen. All right. Let's stand, please, for the reading of God's Word. Song of Solomon, Chapter 8. Verses 6 and 7 is our text. Solomon says, Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm. For love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as a grave, the colds thereof are the colds of fire, which hath the most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly condemned. Thank you very much. You may be seated. One of the most beautiful love stories in the entire Bible is in the Song of Solomon. Now, there are several different interpretations of the Song of Solomon, but it is about a love between a Shulamite maid and the shepherd boy. There are some who believe the shepherd boy represents King Solomon himself. There are others who say that King Solomon tried to alienate the love of the Shulamite made from the shepherd boy. But the reason I believe this book is in the Bible is to picture the beautiful relationship between Jesus Christ and his bride, the church. Now, in Song of Solomon chapter 8, Solomon says this, that love is the strongest force in the entire universe. And if a man were a millionaire and he were to try to buy love with his millions, his money would be condemned because you cannot buy real true love. I read the story about a lady who married a man with whom she was infatuated. And as time went on in their marriage, she realized it was only a matter of infatuation. After she got married, her husband set down for her some rigid rules to follow, such as get up at 5 o'clock in the morning, get breakfast on the table at 6, weigh down him hand and foot, etc., etc. Some of you girls are going to find out about those rules. And she got to the place where her life became a drudgery. And she longed to see the sunset and she hated to see the sunrise. Well, in the course of time, her husband died and she didn't shed very many tears over it. As a matter of fact, I imagine she winked at another man over her husband's casket. But anyway, after her husband's body had been cold for a while, a man that knew her, began to ask her for dates, and they started dating on a regular basis. And now it was so different with this man than it was her husband. And in the course of time, the man popped the inevitable question. She accepted his proposal and they were happily married. Now life to her was a bowl of cherries. When her husband would leave for work, she would wrap her arms around his neck, hug him and kiss him and tell him to hurry home. As she would do her housework, her mind and her eyes were on that walkway waiting for 4.30 to come. And when 4.30 would come, she would run down the walkway to meet him, wrap her arms around him and tell him how much she missed him. One day she was doing her normal set of house chores, and she came upon the set of rules that her first husband had set down for her to follow. She read them. She had a good laugh. You know why? Because she was doing the same thing for this husband that she did for the first husband, but she didn't even realize it. Now what was the difference? Two words. True love. True love. Now some of you kids think you're in love. And it's only puppy love. Now I know, I know it's real to the puppy. I know that. But you better watch out because puppy love leads to a dog's land. Now tonight we're going to find out what is true love. In order to find out what is true love, you don't go to Hollywood. But you go to the greatest example of love that ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you take your Bible please and turn to Matthew chapter 27. As you're turning, there are three Greek words that are translated love. The first word is the word E-R-O-S, Eros. And that is the same word from which we get the word erotic. And you know we use that word to describe pornographic material. Now, young people, when Hollywood sings about love, what they're singing about is lust, E-R-O-S. That's all they know about. When they sing, love makes the world go round, what they really mean is lust makes the world go round. All right, the second word is the word phileo. That is the same word from which we get the word Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. That's fondness or a brotherly love. The third word is the word agape. And that is the divine love that comes down from God Almighty. Now young people, the unsaved person is capable of experiencing the eros. He is capable of experiencing the phileo. But he is totally incapable of experiencing the agape love, the divine love that comes down from God. And that's why, young lady, we tell you that you're very foolish if you date an unsaved boy. You see, that young man can be married to you for 20 years, but he can never love you until he meets the author of the agape love, and that's Jesus Christ. Now, notice please, Matthew 27, verses 39 through 44. What is true love? Matthew 27, 39 through 44. It says, And they that pass by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, also the chief priest mocking him with the scribes and elders said, he saved others himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of God. The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his name. All right, look this way. Young people, I want you to know that it was not those ten-inch spikes that kept Jesus Christ on the cross of Galilee that day. There was not a spike in the world large enough to hang the Son of God on the cross and keep Him there. And let me say that nobody could put Him on the cross until the time was right. Everywhere He went, He went around saying, My hour has not yet come. My hour has not yet come. In Matthew chapter 26, Peter thought he had to defend the Son of God. The Roman soldiers came to the garden to apprehend Jesus, and Peter took out a sword and he smote off the high priest's servant's ear. Now young people, I really believe that Peter was a bad shot. I really believe he was aiming at his head and all he got was his ear. You say, why do you say that? You don't take out a sword to cut off a man's ear, you take out a pocket knife. He had every intention of decapitating that Roman soldier. And Jesus Christ reached out and he put Malchus' ear back on. And in Matthew 26, 53, he said, Peter, put up your sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father, and he shall give me presently more than twelve legions of angels? My, what a statement. Do you realize what Jesus was saying? Why, in the Roman army, a legion could have been as many as 6,000 soldiers. And Jesus, in essence, is saying, Peter, you don't have to defend me. All I've got to do is say the word and 72,000 angels would come down and rescue me. Why, I wonder what 72,000 angels could have done. I read in Isaiah chapter 37 that one angel in one night slew 185,000 Assyrians. One angel in one night. Wonder what 72,000 angels could have done. And Jesus said, Peter, you don't have to defend me. And everywhere he went, he went around saying, my hour has not yet come. But I believe the turning point came in John chapter 10 in verse 11. He said, I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. John 10 and verse 18, he said, No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down to myself. I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again. And ladies and gentlemen, that day when he was facing Calvary's cross, In John chapter 12 and verse 27 he said this, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, but for this cause came I unto this hour. And that day, ladies and gentlemen, when he faced the cross of Calvary, he said, This is the very reason for which all creation exists. This is the very reason for which I was born. You see, you and I were born to live, but not so with the Son of God. He was born to die. And that night as he lay in Bethlehem's manger, the shadow of the cross hovered over the manger. He walked the dusty roads of Galilee, opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears and stopping funeral processions. But it was all coincidental to going to an old rugged cross. Young people that day when Jesus Christ hung on the cross, in essence he said this, I love, therefore I will not come down from the cross. Number one, true love is discipline. Did you get that? Jesus said I love. Therefore, I will not. Some young man comes to his girlfriend and he says, honey, I love you so much. I can't help it. We've got to do it. That's eros. That's not love. And the young man, if he loves that girl, he will say, honey, I love you. Therefore, we must not. Do you know that everything in this universe is governed by laws and rules? Now think of that. There is not one thing that you can think of that is not governed by laws and rules. I was amazed a couple of years ago I was driving down the road and I stopped at a red light and I put on my visor on my car and lo and behold there were some rules on that visor I'd never seen them before. And you can't get away from rules. Young people, I know you don't like rules, but I'm going to let you in on a secret. Your parents don't like rules either. Nobody likes rules. But there is not one thing in this universe that you can think of that is not governed by laws and rules. You get an automobile. If you don't go by the directions your warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. You get an appliance, you have to follow the directions or else you'll not get maximum efficiency from your appliance. All right, now let's be logical. If everything in this universe is governed by laws and rules, isn't it logical that God should set down some rules in this manner of true love so that you and I could enjoy it as God intended for us to enjoy it? Isn't that logical? Now I wish I had time to go into the ramifications of this, but I don't. But there is a rule that affects every person in this building tonight, no matter what your age level. Exodus 20 and verse 14. Thou shall not commit adultery. You know, I am so sick and tired of hearing about a sexual revolution. There is no sexual revolution with God. What was adultery 3,000 years ago under the law is adultery tonight. And God doesn't condone tonight what He condemned 3,000 years ago. I never will forget, I was a member of a church in West Virginia, and my pastor told me about a young lady who came to our church to join. And he told me about her story. She was a member of a Methodist church in Clarksburg, and she said that she had fallen into the sin of adultery. And so she went to her Methodist preacher. Her conscience was stinging her and she wanted to get some help. And so when she told the Methodist preacher, he said, young lady, let me ask you a question. Did it hurt you? He said, did it hurt the man with whom you had adultery with? He said, if it didn't hurt either one of you, who is to say that it's wrong? He said there are occasions when adultery may be normal and healthy. Hell will not be hot enough for that Methodist preacher. Hell will not be hot enough for this crowd of professors that stand in the classroom and say marriage is anachronistic. It is out of date. All you've got to do is shake up with somebody. When you get tired of them, go on to another person. Hell is not going to be hot enough for that crowd. All right, now listen carefully. You flaunt God's rules of love, you're going to pay in three ways. Number one, you will pay in your marriage. Hebrews 13 and verse 4, For marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Hey, I'm talking to people in this building tonight that have been saved. And those sins are under the blood of Christ. But if you're honest tonight, you'd have to say, Brother Comfort, you're right. I can't enjoy a normal relationship in marriage because I played loose before I got saved. I read a letter in the paper to Abigail Van Buren. Please forgive me. And the letter went on to read like this, Dear Abby, I married a sweet, pure, virtuous woman. She was the purest woman that I had ever met in my lifetime. He said, I wish I could say the same about my own morals. Because before I was married, I thought that sex was a plaything. And I ran around with dirty girls who thought that sex was a plaything. Listen carefully. He said, even though I am married to a sweet, pure, virtuous woman, I still cannot enjoy a normal relationship in marriage because of the way I played loose before I got married. And I'm afraid that that could be repeated hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times around Cleveland County in fundamental Baptist preaching churches. So number one, you pay in your marriage. Number two, You pay in your body. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 13. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. What know you not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God? And you're not your own, for you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Thessalonians 4, 3 and 4. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification. that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in honor and sanctification. All right, now listen carefully. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 17, if any man defile the temple of God, him will God what? Destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. You know what that means? A person who plays loose with his body is playing a losing game. Do you know we have diseases known to this generation that have never been known to any other generation? No other generations ever experienced herpes. No other generations ever experienced AIDS. And Brother Ogle, it would seem to me like our legislators would say, now God, you're trying to tell us something. What are you trying to tell us? And God is trying to say, if we play loose with our body, we are playing a losing game. Many years ago, when Becky, our middle daughter, was born, I took my wife to the hospital early in the morning in Clarksburg, West Virginia. And as I went into the waiting room, there was a gang of hippie type young people from Salem College who were sitting in the waiting room. And then I heard the weirdest screams that I think I've ever heard in my life coming from the labor room. And I heard this story. Here was a young lady from Pennsylvania whose parents sent her to a denominational school in Clarksburg, outside of Clarksburg. And she started running around with a gang of hippie type people, drug people. She got on drugs. And that morning as she was brought to the hospital, she was seven months pregnant. Her mom and dad had no idea of the situation. The doctor had to call the parents to get their permission to let the girl enter the hospital. Can't imagine the shock it must have been to them. And you know, the girl, before she entered the labor room, she said, I don't want this baby. So she took some drugs that would kill the baby, and when the baby was born, the baby was born dead. Now hear me, when that young lady stands before God, she will not only be an adulteress, she will be a cold-blooded murder. Every Supreme Court justice that voted to legalize abortion will be a cold-blooded murderer when he stands before God. Every liberal legislator who votes for abortion will be a cold-blooded murderer when he stands before God. Now, let's be logical. Will you follow me, please? Here are two kids who go to public school. You are aware that in the public school they can get issued contraceptives and the guidance council will instruct those kids how to use those contraceptives so they will not get a social disease. All right, so here's a couple out of wedlock. They take all kind of precautions against getting a social disease. They have an immoral relationship and many times they still wind up with a social disease. Is that not true? Sure. All right. Now, on the other hand, here are your mother and father. They're saved. They have never been untrue to each other. They have a normal marital relationship. They take no precautions against getting a social disease. Question. Have you ever heard of a social disease being contracted by that type of human? You never have and you never will. You know what God is saying? It is wrong, it is wicked, it is sinful outside the boundaries of marriage. It is pure, it is sacred, it is holy within the boundaries of marriage. Before President Clinton left office, he proposed that we increase our AIDS research by 100 billion dollars. You know what I say about that? I could say this to these taxpayers millions of dollars, billions of dollars by four words. You know what they are? Sex is for marriage. So number two, you pay in your body. All right. Number three. You pay in your mind. You pay in your mind. Proverbs 6, 32 and 33. Whosoever committed adultery with a woman, lacketh understanding. Get it. He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away. Are you aware, ladies and gentlemen, it does not say that about any other sin in the entire Bible. It doesn't say that about the sin of murder. It doesn't say that about the sin of lying and stealing. It says it uniquely about the sin of adultery. And you know what that means, young people? If you commit adultery in North Carolina and you move to Hawaii, the reproach will never be wiped away. You commit adultery at the age of 15 and you live to be 100 years old, the reproach will never be wiped away. You see, when you lose your purity, no amount of money can ever buy it back. Brother Spencer, I was preaching in New York State about 30 years ago. In front of me, there was a young lady, started crying from the time I started till the time I quit. And I thought she didn't like my preaching. I didn't know. After the service was over, she came to me and she said, Brother Cuthbert, you know why I was crying? I said, well, I'd like to know. She said, as a 12-year-old girl, my mother and father sold me into prostitution. She said, tonight my mother and father are in prison for selling a miner into prostitution. She said, Brother Comfort, I didn't want to commit the first act. But she said, the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning is how I live those three years. The last thing I think about at night before I go to bed is how I live those three years. And she said, my mind will be scarred until the day I die. Now, please forgive me, I am not trying to pour salt into anybody's wounds. And I know that some of you have suffered enough, and Ron Comfort's desire tonight is not to make it worse. But would you permit me to warn these young people, when they lose their purity, no amount of money can ever buy it back. I was preaching in Michigan, a multi-mega-millionaire was in the congregation that night. If I mention his name, most of you would know him. After I got through preaching, he came to me and he said, Brother Comfort, you're right. He said, I know those sins are under the blood. I know God's forgiven me. But he said, those scars are on my mind and they'll be there till the day I die. And I would give a cool million dollars tonight if I could erase from my mind those things which I did before I got saved. Young people, let me tell you something. The most beautiful thing in all the world is to be able to stand at that marriage altar without any confessions to make to your mate today. How I thank God that when I stood at that marriage altar, nobody could point to Joyce Kennedy and say I robbed her of her purity before she got married. I thank God that there was not a girl in the world that could point to wrong comfort and say wrong comfort is unadulterated. Keep your bodies pure. All right, number one, true love is discipline. Jesus said, I love, therefore I will not. Take your Bible, please, and turn to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23 and verse 34. Number two, true love is forgiving. Luke chapter 23 and verse 34. Notice place. It says, Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Look this way. Now, here is an interesting thing. In the Greek language, the verb is in the continuous tense. And you know what Jesus said? The scripture says, He was continually saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what to do. Maybe as they crowned Him with thorns, He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what to do. As they plucked out His beard, He may have said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what to do. As the pound of the tinning spikes in His hands, He may have said, Father, forgive them, For they know not what they do. He was continually saying, Father, forgive them what they do. Now, a lot of people believe that Jesus Christ is the only person in the history of the human race who ever died on the cross. That's not true. We have record that Diocletian, the wicked Roman emperor, in one day put a thousand Christians on the cross. You see, the cross was reserved for those who were enemies of the state of Rome. And it was the most dastardly form of capital punishment that has ever been invented by wicked minds. Somebody said in this day that the word ought to be banished from the lips of every human being. And if a person mentioned the word crucify, he ought to be punished by the law. Now I want you to get this. Usually when anybody died on the cross, he either died cursing God or cursing man. Many times, as he was dying, he would try to bring the judgment of God down on those who put him on the cross. And in my mind, I see Michael and Gabriel standing at the balcony of heaven. And Michael is listening, and he says, Michael, listen. Gabriel, listen. Jesus is going to call us down to take him off the cross. And all of a sudden, the lips of Jesus began to move. And he says, Father, Forgive them, for they know not what they do. Don't you get it? What should have been a place of bitterness and cursing turned into a prayer meeting for the Son of God. He was continually saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And I'll tell you something, Brother Childs, I believe that his vision was far beyond that crowd that was around the cross. I believe he looked out in the future 2,000 years and he saw a 15-year-old boy by the name of Ron Comfort and he said, Father, forgive Ron Comfort because he doesn't know what he's going to do when he rejects me as his personal Savior. And you know what? I believe he prayed for you that day too. The Bible says in Ephesians 4, 31 and 32, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, here it is, and be a kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Why? Even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. I hear somebody say, well, Brother Comfort, I can forgive, but I can't forget. Aren't you glad Jesus didn't say that on Calvary? If He had said, I can forgive, but I can't forget, every one of us would be on our way to hell tonight. You say, but Brother Comfort, if you knew how they treated me, you'd know I have every right in the world to be bitter. Where do you read that in the Bible? Where do you read that in the Bible? Colossians story in verse 13, As Christ forgave you, So also do ye. If Jesus Christ could forgive me, I ought to be able to forgive you of anything you would ever do to wrong comfort. Matthew 18, 21 and 22, Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee till seven times, but until seventy times seven. You know what Peter was doing? He was strutting his spirituality. And in essence, he said, Jesus, the Jewish rabbi said, oh, forgive my brother three times. But I'm a good Christian. I'm not going to forgive my brother three times. I'm going to forgive him seven times. Aren't I a good Christian? And Jesus said, no, Peter, you're not a good Christian unless you can forgive him 70 times seven. Have you ever said to your husband or to your wife, I can never forgive you? You don't know ABC about true love. I remember preaching in Atlanta, Georgia. A lady came to me and said, Brother Comfort, I've got to talk to you in the pastor's study. She said, I used to run laundromat down here in Atlanta. And one afternoon, about two o'clock, a man came in the laundromat and he locked the door behind him. He took the barrel of a revolver and he pointed it to my head. And he said, Lady, if you don't let me have liberty with your body, I'm going to blow your brains out. She said, Brother Comfort, that day I was raped. She said, you know what my husband said? Aren't you a Christian? Why didn't you let him blow out your brains? He said, I can never forgive you. He did not know anything about agape love. Here's a story of love. Black evangelist by the name of Benjamin Doobie preached in an area of Johannesburg, South Africa to a million blacks and his burden was to see them transformed by the power of God. And his message was the gospel of Christ can take a black man and make him love a white man and make a white man and make him love a black man. And the people that he preached to and tried to win to Christ said, Doobie, shut up. We don't want to hear that kind of preaching. We don't want to love white people. And so one night, Benjamin Doobie went to bed. The next morning, as he came down to the breakfast table, there was four children, his wife Grace, sitting at the table. And he said, Now, you know, I don't put much stock in dreams. But he said, I had a dream last night. And he said, I've got to share this with you. And I think that there may be some substance to it. He said, I dream that if we keep preaching this gospel, that we're going to pay with our own lives. So this morning we need to make a decision. We can abandon the gospel and go on living peaceably or else we can keep preaching the gospel and jeopardize our lives. And Grace and the four children said, we don't have any choice. That's not a choice for us. We've got to keep preaching the gospel. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ that transformed our heart. And we've got to give this to everybody. Several months later, Benjamin and his four children were on their way to an outdoor meeting in the car. They were stopped in a bad area of town by ten black men. They dragged Benjamin Doobie out of the car and his four children ran for their life. The oldest boy, Benoni, 12 years old, stood behind the dustbin watching what they were doing to his daddy. These ten black men got a knife and they ran it through the body of Benjamin Doobie eighteen times. The body saturated everything around him. They took his Bible and they saturated it in his own blood. After they left, little Benoni came out to his daddy and he found that there was no life in his daddy anymore. So he took this blood saturated Bible and he ran home to his mother and he told his mother that his daddy was dead. Little Benoni with a broken heart went up to his room, knelt by his bed and opened his Bible. And you know what his Bible fell open to? Luke 23 and verse 34. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The 10 men were apprehended. Three were convicted as first degree murderers. They were sentenced to 15 years in prison. The others were sentenced to 18 months, and after 18 months, with good behavior, they could be on parole. Well, two years passed, and many of the seven men were out on parole. One night, Grace Doobie and her four children were in an outdoor gospel meeting, and they were singing a gospel song and giving their testimonies. And after they got through, Grace stood up and she said, Is there anybody in this crowd tonight that would like to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior? One of the seven accomplices was in that service. He stepped out in the aisle and all of a sudden everybody recognized who he was. There was a hushed silence that came over the crowd as he came to the front. He looked in Grace Doobie's eyes and he said, Grace Doobie, I want your Jesus. She wrapped her arms around his neck and she said, Now you are my brother. And they wondered how in the world are the four children going to respond, those who murdered their daddy. And the four children begin to sing with one voice. What a mighty God have we. Let us praise and glorify his name. True love is forgiving. Now take your Bible in closing and turn to John chapter 3, please. Number one, true love is discipline. Number two, true love is forgiving. Now in closing, John chapter 3 and verse 16. True love. Is sacrificial. It says for God, so loved the world, that he what? That he what? Gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Say, isn't that so different from the rock songs of the day, if you can figure out the lyrics? The average rock song says something like this. I love you! I want your body! I want your kisses! I want, I want, that shall a million records. Now listen to me, true love is not getting. True love is giving. God loved, he gave his son. Matthew 20, 28, even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Galatians 2 and verse 20, In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Ephesians 5 and verse 2, And walk in love, as Christ that loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. I have three daughters that I love with all my heart. In the forty years that I have been in evangelism, God has given us millions of friends around the world. Young people, there is not a... All of my millions of friends together would be worth my giving one of my three daughters to die for. But let me tell you something, God didn't have three sons. He only had one. And he did not give his son to die for his friends. He gave his son to die for his enemies. Romans 5, 6, we were ungodly. Romans 5 and verse 8, we were sinners. Ephesians 2 and verse 1, we were dead in trespasses and in sin. Ephesians 2 and verse 2, we were children of disobedience. Ephesians 2 and verse 1, we were strangers. We were aliens in our mind by wicked works. Ephesians 2 and verse 13, we were far off. But God so loved the world that He gave. God loved, He gave His Son, Jesus loved, He gave His last drop of blood. Matthew 26, 28, for this is my blood of the New Testament. which is shed for many for the mission of sins. Hebrews 9 and verse 20 saying this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto us. Hebrews 9 22 almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without the shedding of blood is no remission. Hebrews 13 and verse 12 wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate, Ephesians 1 and verse 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Ephesians 2 and verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, he who was sometimes a bore off, are made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the 1990s there was a tragedy that took place. A world-renowned Bible teacher made the statement that the blood of Jesus Christ was no different than the blood of any other person. And he said, when that blood fell to the ground, it dissipated. And I tell him that that was precious blood. I tell him that was the blood of God. Acts 20 and verse 24. And you listen to me, there would not be a professor that would stay five minutes on this faculty who would make an issue and a controversy out of anything so precious as the blood of Jesus Christ. In closing, we read in Isaiah 53 verse 5, a tremendous prophetic statement. It says he was wounded for our transgressions. Medical science tells us there are five types of wounds known to mankind. And when Jesus Christ hung on Calvary, he experienced every wound that is known to medical science in his body. Number one, there was what was called a contused wound. A contused wound is a wound made by a blunt instrument. In Matthew chapter 27 in verse 30 they came to Jesus with a reed, the reed being a blunt instrument. And they smote him on top of the cranium and they gashed his skull. And in my mind I can see the blood and the perspiration and the spittle as they make a pathway down his dusty cheeks. Contus wounds. Number two, there is what is called lacerated wounds. These are wounds made by a sharp caring instrument. Isaiah 15 verse 6, I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off a hair. Do you know, ladies and gentlemen, in the day of Christ there were two types of scourging? Number one, there was Jewish scourging. Number two, there was Roman scourging. In Jewish scourging, they would take a man's hands, tie them through a ring, take his legs, tie them through a ring, so his body would be spread eagle. They would take the leaded with the cat of nine tails. They would beat him 13 times on the right side, 13 times in the center, 13 times on the left side. Jewish law forbade any man to be beaten more than 40 strikes. They always stopped at 39 to be within the law. But do you know that at Pilate's judgment hall, Pilate did not have Jesus scourged by Jewish scourging. Rather, it was Roman scourging. And here's the way they did it. They tied his hands to the ring and they let his body dangle. They would take the leaded with the cat of nine tails. You know what that was? Nine strands of leather. And on the end of every strand of leather was a place for a three to four inch piece of bone, glass, or metal. And every lash in the victim's body ripped nine strains of skin from his body. You know what that means? If they beat him five times, they rip 45 strains of skin from his body. Five times nine is 45. And in Roman scourging, there was no limit to the amount of times he could be scourged. And Roman historians tell us that whenever a person was beaten by Roman scourging, it was impossible to look at his body and tell how many lashes he received. Why? Because after Roman scourging, his body looked like a piece of raw hamburger. They took the leaded whip to cut up nine tails, and they brought it one, two, three, four, 5, 10, 20, 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. And only God knows how many more times until his entire body was riveted, emaciated flesh, lacerated bones. Number three, there is what is called penetrating wounds. And these are wounds made by a sharp pointed instrument. You see in John chapter 19 and verse 1, they came to Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns. Now most of us envision those thorns like you find on the rose bush. That's not true. Three times I have seen in a building at the Garden of Gethsemane a replica of the crown of thorns. And are you aware that those thorns could have been as much as six inches in length. And they took this massive crown of thorn and they crushed it down upon his brow and then they took the reed and they smote him on top of the crown of thorns and it made an encirclement of wounds about his holy brow. Penetrating wounds. Number four, there is what is called perforated wounds. And this word in Latin means to pierce through. Ladies and gentlemen, they took those ten inch spikes and they pounded it through the hands of Jesus. Actually, the heel of the hand separating the bones, not a bone of him was broken. They lapped over his feet, they pounded the ten inch spike through the heel of the foot fulfilling Genesis 3.15. They took this mammoth 250 pound cross, and with a thud, slammed it into the pit. And as they slammed it into the pit, the flesh ripped from every wound of Jesus Christ. I had a nurse tell me in Pittsburgh, she said, Brother Comfort, when they slammed Jesus Christ into that pit that day, that his inside separated from his ribcage. And you know what the Bible says? All of his bones, We're out of joint. Have any of you ever suffered a bone out of joint? Would you raise your hand? Several of you have. You know the trauma of that. I remember I was about six years old. Mom and dad were gone. My brother and I were at home and I fell on the floor and I said, Billy, pull me up. He pulled. I said, harder, Billy. He pulled me so hard he jerked my arm out of its socket. And I shall never forget that excruciating pain. Ladies and gentlemen, Psalm 22, 14 through 18 says, his bones came out of his skin and they stared upon him. Think of it. Perforated wounds. Number five, there is what is called incised wounds. And these are wounds made by a sharp edged instrument. In John chapter 19 and verse 34, they came to Jesus and they saw that he was dead already, so they didn't break his bones. Now listen carefully. Do you know that Roman law said, don't let the victim fall beneath the cross on the way to crucifixion. Why? The greatest time of his agony was to be reserved for just before he died, they would come with a large mallet, they would break his bones and hasten death and cause suffocation to hasten death. That was the epitome of suffering and nothing was to supersede that. I see in my mind Jesus as he staggers with that 160-pound crosspiece coined toward Golgotha. And a Roman soldier went in the crowd, and he got a black man, Simon the Cyrene, and he said, Help him carry his cross. Why? Because if that soldier had let Jesus fall beneath that cross, he would have been punishable by the law. And his greatest agony was to be reserved for just before he died. They would break his bones with a large mallet. And in my mind I see them take that hammer back and I see God Almighty reach over the balcony of heaven and He says, you can't do that. You can't do that. So they saw He was dead already. To vent their hatred for the Son of God, they took a spear and they jammed it in His side. And out of His side flowed blood and water. We are told surrounding the heart is an organ called the pericardium, and it emits a tablespoonful of water that aids in the motion of the heart. Somebody said, how in the world could John have seen one tablespoonful of water when they plunged a spear in his side? You know, we're told about that. Under continuous torture, that amount can be increased up to 24 times the original amount. And ladies and gentlemen, that day when they slammed the spear in the sight of Jesus, one and one half cups full of water could have come out of his holy side. And you listen carefully in closing. Jesus did not die because of the nail prints. He did not die because of the crown of thorns. You know why I believe he died? I believe he died of a broken heart. There in the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me or out of me. You know what I believe Jesus Christ was praying? I am convinced the devil tried to kill Jesus in the garden. You see, the little capillaries underneath his skin exploded and out of the pores of his skin came great drops of blood. We are told three times in the annals of medical history that a person's sweat drops of blood on each occasion that person died of a broken heart. And I believe there in the Garden of Gethsemane, his heart was breaking. And he says, Father, if it be possible, don't let me die in the garden, but let me go to the cross and fulfill the word of God. He was wounded. for our transgressions. A young man by the name of Andy was on his way home from work one night. He noticed a bungalow in the field on fire and all of a sudden the thought occurred to him that there were two little boys in that bungalow. Andy, not thinking about his own life, ran into the bungalow, took a child under each arm, covered them with his coat, and he brought them to safety without a scratch or a burn on their body. The boy's parents were burned alive in the flames. Andy's arms were burned to a crisp all the way up to the elbows. A couple months passed and these two boys were up for adoption. Two people applied for the adoption. One was the town mayor, the other was Andy. The day of awarding the children, the judge looked at Andy and he said, Andy, he said, I've got one question to ask you and how you answer this question will determine who gets these children. He said, here's my question. What right do you have to these two little boys? He said, look at this mayor. He's got a position. He's got money, he's got property, he's got a fine home. He said, this man could give these boys everything their little hearts desire. He said, Andy, he said, I've checked your bank account. You're a poor working man. You don't even have a penny in a savings account. What could you do for these two little boys that this mayor couldn't do? He said, what right do you have to these two little boys? Andy didn't say a word. You know what he did? He just held up his hands. My dear friend, you look at God tonight and you say, God, what right do you have to my life? All Jesus Christ has to do is hold up his hands. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray. Find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Is the instrumentalist coming tonight?