[0:00] Let us turn now to consider words you will find in the portion read in the gospel according to John chapter 1 and reading at verse 40.
[0:15] John's Gospel chapter 1 verse 40. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him, we have found the Messiah which is being interpreted to Christ and he brought him to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him he said, thou art Simon the son of Jonah, thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation a stone.
[0:54] The much that we have in the gospel of John particularly the first half of it is taken up with an account of encounters that our Lord had with the various people.
[1:17] We have in the first chapter for example his encounter with the first five disciples and then in the third chapter his encounter with Nicodemus, in the fourth his encounter with the woman of Samaria, in the fifth his encounter with the man of the Pull of Petesta, in the seventh and the eighth his encounter with the Jew when he spoke of himself being for example the bread of life from the life of the world.
[1:43] And then in 10 or 11, GO limbo and then in 10 or 11 his encounter with the famous people of Bethany, Mary and Martha and Lazarus.
[2:01] And tonight I should like to look with you at the account that we have in the Gospels here of our Lord's first meeting with his disciples, particularly with Andrew and with his brother Simon Peter. You notice that John and it probably was John and Andrew were the first to be directed to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God through the ministry of John the Baptist. And then Andrew was instrumental in bringing Peter to the Lord. And then we have an account of the way in which the Lord found Philip and then Philip found Nathaniel. And in that way the Gospel here, the last verses of this chapter, bring to the attention the various ways in which these first five disciples of the Lord were brought to it.
[3:24] Of course they weren't all brought in the same way or by the same means. In exactly the same way as we see today in our own case in the Church of Jesus Christ today, that people are brought in different ways, by different means, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Some are brought, very suddenly, in a way which some people think is the common way, but which it is not. Some are brought suddenly in conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Some, and this is the far more prevalent way in the Church of Jesus Christ, some are brought, some are brought gradually to the Savior. We see that in their case, it is unlikely that any of them was brought in this sudden way to the Lord. As a matter of fact, there are many who believe that these five men were born again before they saw Jesus physically, physically, and before some of them heard John the Baptist. It is difficult to determine exactly whether that is true or not, because they lived in that period which is called the intertestamental period.
[4:58] They lived in that period. They lived in that period. They lived in that period. They lived in an overlap between the two dispensations, between the Old Testament dispensation and the New. And it has been said that although they could easily recall that first encounter with the Lord, they might have been able to give very little information as to the dawning of their interest in spiritual things.
[5:24] Because it seems that as you look at this narrative. Because it seems that as you look, as you read this narrative, whatever else you can say about these men, John, and Andrew, and Peter, and Philip, and Nathaniel, whatever else you can say about them, you have to recognize that they were interested in spiritual things.
[5:46] But their faith was probably no more than a belief in the coming Messiah as prophet, priest, and king.
[6:00] Their faith was not a belief in the coming Messiah as prophet, priest, and king. Their faith wasn't mature, nor was it accompanied by a full knowledge as you and mine is tonight, because we have a great advantage over these men in that we have the completed revelation of God.
[6:23] We have the Bible in its entirety. We have the Bible in its entirety. But however weak that faith was, it was sufficient to bring them into contact and into close fellowship with Jesus.
[6:39] And as he himself told them, as he told Nathaniel, in his company they were to see greater things than when they first believed.
[6:52] And one truth after another assumed and found its place in the firmament of their minds, that the stars appearing in the evening sky as daylight fades away.
[7:09] Now, the two that I want to speak about tonight are Andrew and Simon Peter. And in looking at these two, I want to look at two main thoughts with you.
[7:23] First of all, Peter's death to Andrew. And then secondly, Peter's death to Andrew.
[7:35] First of all, Peter's death to Andrew. And we have that recounted in verse 40. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
[7:46] And he first found his own brother Simon and said unto him, We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted to Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.
[7:58] Now, in looking at Peter's death to Andrew, I want to look at two or three things with you. I want to look first of all at the love which Andrew had for his brother.
[8:10] And then secondly, at the message with which Andrew came to his brother. And then thirdly, at the witness that Andrew made to his brother.
[8:25] First of all, his love. He first findeth his own brother, Simon Peter.
[8:37] Now, as far as we know, this was the first evidence and the first account of someone leading another person to Jesus directly by this kind of witness.
[8:53] Apart, of course, from the preaching of John the Baptist through which Andrew himself came to know the law. Before Andrew did anything else, after he followed Jesus.
[9:07] And we don't know what happened that night when, remember these two, John and Andrew, followed Jesus as a result of a John the Baptist preaching and Jesus noticed that they were following him.
[9:20] And he turned round and he said to them, What seek ye? And they said, Rabbi, which is being accepted to the Messiah, where dwellest thou? Master, where dwellest thou? He said unto them, Come and see.
[9:32] They came and saw where he dwelt. And they abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. Now, we don't know what they heard from the lips of Jesus.
[9:44] But we know that was sufficient for Andrew to go immediately and to find his brother Simon. And here is an evidence, an indication of what human love and human attachment can do and what it can mean in the life of an individual.
[10:05] And there is something which I suppose many people find extremely difficult to do. Not to talk about Jesus. And not perhaps to go to someone with a specific purpose of telling them about the law.
[10:21] There is something more difficult than that. At least it is for, I believe, a lot of people. And that is to go to your own flesh and blood. To go to your own kids and kin.
[10:33] To begin with members of your own family. People who live under the same roof. The people who are closest to you in the world. To go to them, first and foremost, with a message.
[10:49] That we have found the Messiah. I believe that that is one of the most difficult places of all to witness.
[11:00] Perhaps there are some of you present here tonight who know and who feel that it is easier to witness anywhere than it is at home.
[11:11] Perhaps you find it easier to speak to someone you don't know at all about the Lord. Than you do to speak about him to someone who is closer to you than anybody else in the world.
[11:26] Well, here was a man, a brother, with just an average testimony. With a very simple message.
[11:37] A Christian disciple doing what he could. And doing what he should. He went and he found his brother.
[11:52] You know that it is far easier to witness on a street where you are not known. Than to witness in the street where you are not.
[12:06] I think that this is probably the success that many missionary societies have. And many of the carrots that they are able to dung before particularly young people. When they try to introduce them to Christian service.
[12:19] And they lead them into avenues where they can learn, as some people say, and I am quoting them. Where they can learn the value of Christian discipleship.
[12:30] And they do this in a place perhaps far away. Many miles from their own environment. But very often it is across the water in some foreign country.
[12:44] Where they can, where they are taught to disciples. Where they are taught to witness. Taught to evangelize. And they can learn the language that they don't know.
[12:56] With literature that they can't understand. Because they can't read. And many of these advantages are held out to them. To go and share in the thrill of evangelizing.
[13:09] Far away from kiss and kin. And I would say this. That the best form of discipleship.
[13:21] And the most demanding form of discipleship. And the one which involves far more self-sacrifice. And self-denial.
[13:32] The first thing is to begin. Is to begin. Where it is most difficult of all. Where you are known. Best of all. And that's what makes witnessing difficult.
[13:44] Because you then realize. And recognize. That you are speaking to people who know you. And they are able then.
[13:55] To attach. Your witness. To your character. And to your personality. And they know. If it sticks. A person a hundred miles away.
[14:08] Doesn't know whether what you are saying. Sticks. To what you are. But the person who lives with you. Knows it. And that is why it is extremely difficult.
[14:21] To begin. Discipling. On their own roof. May I ask you. Who are here tonight as Christians.
[14:32] As I would ask myself. How many of you. Go. With this message. To your nearest. And to your dearest.
[14:44] We. Have found. The Messiah. That was the evidence. Of Islam. And then you look at. The message.
[14:55] With which he came. We. Have found. The Messiah. Here was. A man. Who recognized. That he found.
[15:06] What he was looking for. This is the meaning of the word. Of the speaker. In a minute. The word. Here is the first. The first occurrence of this word. I believe in the New Testament. The word. Eureka.
[15:17] He came with. With. With. A sense of. The joy of discovery. The joy of discovery. And the discovery was this.
[15:28] You see. He had found. The very thing he was looking for. Remember. We spoke about this word. In Hebrews chapter number six. A few weeks ago. He that cometh unto God. Must believe that he is.
[15:40] And that he is the rewarder of them. That diligently seek him. The good of the Lord. You see. Finding Christ. Is the result of. A diligent search. It means that.
[15:52] You find. What alone. Is going to give you satisfaction. What alone. Meet your needs. As an individual. And as a sinner.
[16:03] You see. No person. Has ever found the Lord. But a person who sought him. Or you see. You may. You may. You may challenge that statement. Well. I don't mind.
[16:14] If you challenge it. But it's a fact. No one has ever found the Lord. But a person who sought him. It was the Lord. Who moved him to seek.
[16:25] Constrained him to seek. And the Lord. Entered this person's life. In such a way. That he made him. Absolutely. Dissatisfied. With anything.
[16:36] And everything. Until he found the Lord. Remember the classic statement. Of Augustine. Thou hast made us for thyself. And our hearts are restless. Till they find the rest in thee. Now this is what Andrew found.
[16:48] He was. We don't know for how long. He was looking for the Messiah. We don't know how long. He was listening to men like John the Baptist. We don't know how often. He went to hear a sermon. How often he went to hear the scriptures expounded.
[17:01] We don't know how often he longed to see. And to come in contact. With this person whom he knew. Was the Messiah. And the Savior of the world. We don't know. But there came a time when he made the discovery.
[17:13] And this was the content of his message. He went out. We have found. The Messiah too. You can almost sense his excitement. Because there was this.
[17:25] There was this joy. In his heart. He had found. What he was. Looking for. No person. Ever sought the Lord. In vain.
[17:36] No person. No person's ever been disappointed. Who has sought the Lord in vain. No person ever went to hell. As a seeker of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[17:48] I tell you that assuredly. Because Jesus said. I will in no wise cast out any who come unto me. The Lord said through his prophets.
[18:00] Them that seek me early. Them that seek me earnestly. Shall find me. And here he came.
[18:11] With his joy. With his eureka. In his experience. The joy of. Finding. Indy. You know that this is the word. Which is.
[18:22] Attributed to. The scientist. Archimedes. I hope I'm right. When I say this. That he made this discovery. One day. When he was bathing. That those of you. Who know something.
[18:33] But science. I hope will. Corrupt what I'm saying. And if I'm wrong. Perhaps you'll put me right. After the service. Some other time. When he made the discovery. That the volume of. Unregular. Solid.
[18:44] Could be calculated. By the. Measuring the water. Which was displaced. When that solid. Was immersed in water. When he made the discovery. He cried out.
[18:55] Eureka. Those around him. Thought he was mad. Something akin. To the feeling. That Columbus. Must have had. When he made the discovery. Of the new world.
[19:06] What a joy. Would have leapt up. In his heart. Something akin. To the feeling. That an emigrant. Has. When he returns. Back home. And sees.
[19:17] His loved ones. After. Many years. You can know. Something of the joy. In the heart. But there is no joy. Which can be compared. With the joy. Of finding the Lord.
[19:30] It removes. All your doubts. Dispels. All your darkness. Removes. All your confusion. Meets. All your fear. Delusion.
[19:41] Delusion. From all your condemnation. And ushers you. Into the experience. Of. And the discovery. Of peace. And joy. And light. And love.
[19:52] And fulfillment. And satisfaction. And just as people thought. That Archimedes was mad. So there are many. Who think. That the Christian is mad. Just because. He has made this discovery.
[20:03] And can make. This statement. We. Have found. The Messiah. That is why. People like David. Could say to his generation.
[20:15] Oh. Taste and see. That God. Is good. And why the same man. Could say. To the assembled multitude. Come. All that hear me.
[20:27] And I'll tell you. What the Lord has done. For my soul. This is the testimony. Of every believer. He came. To Peter. And he said. We. Have found.
[20:38] The Messiah. What was it. That gave him such joy. This third thing. The content. Of his message. The Messiah. You know. That this is the. The Hebrew. The Syrian word.
[20:49] The Syriac word. For the anointed one. The Greek word. Is Christ. The anointed one. Anointed by God. And that has a great. Significant for these. Jewish men. A person anointed. Was anointed to be prophet.
[21:00] Anointed to be king. And anointed to be priest. And here was the one. Who was all these. In himself. The one who could reveal. God to them. As none other. Whosoever has seen God. Has seen God.
[21:11] Has said. To. And he has said. To his daughter. Now. And he has said. That's the one. Is the one who was all these. In himself. The one who could reveal. God to them.
[21:22] As none other. Whosoever has seen. God hath seen me. The one alone who could forgive sin and the one alone who could deliver and defend and subdue all their enemies and bring them ultimately into the glorious presence of Christ.
[21:39] Though their sense or their understanding of the Messiahship was defective, at least they found him and he was going to put them right. This was the one in whom all their hopes were centered.
[21:57] One who was set apart for the service. We have found the Messiah. He came, he came with this message to his brother.
[22:13] I wonder how many of us here tonight, if you went home after this service, wonder how many present in this church night could sit at the supper table this evening, face their loved ones and say, do you know that I have found the Lord?
[22:32] Could you say it to your husband tonight? Could you say it to your wife? Can you say it to your children? Can you children say it to your parents, brother to sister and sister to brother?
[22:47] And so on. Can you? Can you say with a hymn writer, I'm not ashamed to own my Lord or to defend his cause, maintain the glory of his cross and honor all his laws.
[23:05] Jesus, my Lord, I know his name. His name is all my boast. Nor will he put my soul to shame, nor let my hope be lost.
[23:17] What a testimony, what a message, what a witness. One person in one home to say to all who are with him, I have found the Messiah.
[23:33] And what did he do? Ah well, he did something that Peter never forgot. And something for which Peter, something for which he would ever be indebted to his brother.
[23:45] He led him to Jesus. He brought him to Jesus. And I don't know if there is one person in the history of this world who did more for one man than Andrew did for his brother Simon.
[24:12] When you think what this man did in the history of the Christian church, Peter, when you think of the eminent place that he had in the company of his Lord, when you think, when you look at his history as it is recorded for us the first 10, 11 chapters of the book of Acts, when you think of the letters that he wrote, the life that he lived and the death that he died, how indebted this man was to the brother who changed his whole life the day that he brought him to the Lord.
[24:53] You know that, I think I'm right in saying that there are only three instances in the New Testament in the Gospels in which anything is recorded for us of Andrew.
[25:05] Do you know that? And on the three occasions he is found leading people to the Lord.
[25:16] He led his brother. Wasn't it he who led that young boy who had the loaves and the fish to Jesus? And it was he who led the Greeks who came up to worship at the feast.
[25:30] Record in John chapter 12 to Jesus. That's all that we find him to. Leading people to the Lord. Should I say that?
[25:40] Of course I shouldn't say that's all that we find him to. But that is what the New Testament records for us of this man's activity.
[25:52] And he was in his element obviously in bringing people to the Lord. Now I believe that it is if I may use the word it is the most natural thing in the world for a person who finds the Lord it is the most natural thing in the world for him to want to bring other people to the Lord.
[26:20] It's natural. Remember what Moses said to Hove come now with us and we will do the good for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. I quote already Psalm 34 verse 8 O taste and seeds at the psalmist that God is good.
[26:40] You know if you're a Christian here tonight I'll tell you one evidence of your Christianity. You want to bring other people to the Lord.
[26:52] Perhaps your complaint tonight is that you are able to do so little in this direction. Did you ever hear the story of George Whitefield who stayed for a few days with a good friend of his and a retired army colonel and he was greatly taken and impressed with the friendship and the hospitality of that colonel's home and you know that Whitefield was a man who was never afraid to speak up at his law but somehow or other he just couldn't find the opening to say something about a savior to these people.
[27:34] You know what that is like. I was with someone recently and I wish that I would have a far better witness for the Lord. It's very easy to stand in a place like this and preach.
[27:47] This is the kind of place that Spurgeon called the coward's platform. Anyone can come up here and speak to a congregation like this if you prepare yourself for it.
[27:58] You can do it. But it's another thing you see to witness face to face. On the street or in the home of someone. I was with someone recently I was desperately looking for an opening which I could start speaking to this person about their soul's welfare and I couldn't get it.
[28:18] And I left without getting it to my own shame. George Whitefield was in his house. He was trying to speak to him and he couldn't.
[28:30] And after a week he had to leave and he wondered and he prayed about this and he agonised over it. And he got up the morning he was leaving and he prayed to the Lord.
[28:43] And then he noticed small triangular pain in one of the windows of his bedroom. And he was wearing a ring. He took off his ring. and he wrote scratched from that pane of glass one thing thou lackest.
[29:03] And he left. And the woman, the careless wife wondered why Whitefield hadn't spoken to them about the Lord.
[29:15] And she went upstairs to his bedroom. She went in and she was looking and then she noticed this triangular pain. She noticed that something was scratched and she went over and she read it.
[29:26] She called up her family and her husband. They all looked at the message Whitefield had left. And it is said that they knelt as a family there beside the bed in which he slept and prayed to the Lord.
[29:41] And that was a means that the Lord used for their conversion. It is natural for those who love the Lord to want to speak about the Lord.
[29:51] to other people. Perhaps you are here tonight and there is something welling up inside your heart. You would love to speak and you feel that you can't.
[30:03] Do you know what that is? If you are a Christian I am sure you know what it is. This pent up feeling welling up inside you ready to burst me you would give the word to say something for your Lord.
[30:21] I am a reminder as I speak to you of something I read once about a man who worked in one of the mines underground. He was working, the gang of men he was with, one of them was a Christian and he was forever speaking about the Lord.
[30:36] And he got so tired of this he asked the former for a shift and he was transferred and he started working with another gang of men. And there was this man he was working he was quiet he wasn't saying a word.
[30:51] And after a few days this other man who had requested a shift his peace was shattered when this quiet man said to him one day I said I wish I could tell you about my Lord.
[31:08] You know there are people like that. Suffer me to tell you just one other story. Don't like loading a sermon too many stories. But it is told of a minister once who was pitching to his congregation a series of very profound lectures on defending, resisting rather and rejecting infidelity.
[31:34] And he was pitching these series of lectures infidelity. For one man in particular, there is always a danger that we ministers try to present a message or a series of messages aiming at someone.
[31:48] Perhaps a person or aiming at doesn't hear any word you're saying. Anyway this man was pitching a series of lectures on rejecting infidelity and he had one man in particular in view. Well after a few weeks this man came to the minister and professed conversion.
[32:04] and the minister asked him which one of the lectures was it that the Lord used. Oh he said he didn't use any of you lectures. I was leaving the church one night.
[32:17] There was an old lady in front of me and she stumbled on the steps. And I put out my hand to steady and I kept, I held her up, I saved her from falling.
[32:29] And as she thanked me he said. And then she looked at me and she said, my friend she said, do you love the Lord who is my saviour?
[32:43] And I went home he said and I realised that night that I didn't love the Lord at all. That was what the Lord used to bring me to himself.
[32:54] But tonight he said, I came to tell you that I do love the Lord. You see the testimony of one frail old woman.
[33:08] Ah my friend, little do you and I know what you might do by speaking about the Lord to one person. All Andrew did was he went and he took Peter, Simon, he brought him to Jesus.
[33:28] And what a day that was. in the history of Peter. With what far reaching consequences for the history of this world and for the history of the church of Jesus Christ.
[33:40] How often Andrew would have said blessed be the Lord that I spoke to him about Jesus. How often Peter would say blessed be the Lord that he spoke to me about Jesus.
[33:54] One man that's all. But what God can do, with one individual. And let you and I take this away with us tonight as I leave this first point and now just briefly deal with the second one.
[34:12] Peter's debt to Andrew. debt to Jesus.
[34:30] And then secondly Peter's debt to Jesus. Peter's and when Jesus beheld him he said thou are Simon the son of Jonah thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation a stone.
[34:46] There are two things here that come to light and I deal with them very briefly indeed. First of all the look of Jesus and then secondly the knowledge of Jesus.
[34:59] Peter, Jesus looked at him and said the word here beheld is a word which means a penetrating look. He looked him through and through he saw him with that look which singled him out.
[35:19] You know this is a very significant place in the history of this man. This was the first time that Jesus looked at him. It wasn't the last.
[35:31] It wasn't the last. Before our Lord was crucified on Calvary, when he was being questioned in the hall of the high priest, Peter denied his Lord that night with three times, with cursing and swearing.
[35:48] And you know it was as though the Lord was sitting, the hall of the high priest was something like this church with a balcony. And it's probable that Jesus was being questioned somewhere in that balcony by the high priest and by his emissaries about his teaching and his doctrine and his ministry.
[36:07] And his disciple Peter was downstairs remember he was warming himself beside the fire with a soldier, a very cold night. And they were questioning him about his relationship to Jesus and he denied that he ever knew him.
[36:22] And he denied that he was one of them. He denied that he was a follower and he confirmed it probably with the language that he often used as a fisherman, with cushing and was swearing.
[36:39] And you remember how the New Testament tells us that after the cock crone, twice that night, immediately their eyes met.
[36:52] So Peter looked up, Jesus looking down. Remember how John puts it. Jesus at that time was being questioned about his teaching and this is what he said, why do you ask me?
[37:04] Ask them who heard me. And there was one of them denying him, with cushing and with swearing. And he looked up and their eyes met.
[37:16] Remember how it is written in Luke's Gospel? Jesus looked at him. Again the look that penetrated through and through. And he went out and he wept bitterly.
[37:29] What does the look of Jesus signify? This, that it sets you apart. When the Lord looks at you, he did the same to Zacchaeus. Remember Zacchaeus up in the tree, the sycamore tree, and Jesus passed and he looked at him.
[37:44] And he singled him out from the crowd. Zacchaeus, come down. This is what happens. Whether this was this conversion or not. Let us say just now that it was.
[37:56] This is what happens in conversion. Jesus singles you out, sets you apart. for himself. And he brings you to realize that he knows you.
[38:08] He sees you. And you live in the fear of the Lord. Thereafter. And then the other thing here is the knowledge that Jesus had of him.
[38:20] Thou art, Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Sivas, which is by interpretation a stone. Now again, and I deal with this very hurriedly, again, this had special significance for a Jew.
[38:35] These men knew that Bible, and they knew that this often happened in the history of God's dealings with his people. That happened to Abraham. Thou shalt no more be called Abraham, but Abraham.
[38:47] It happened to Sarai. Thou shalt not be called Sarai, but Sarah. It happened to Jacob. Thou shalt not be called Jacob, but Israel. It happened to Gideon.
[38:59] Thou shalt not be called Jerubah, pleaded against Baal. And it meant to them, the significance of it was this, that whenever God had something specific and something significant in you for a man, it was brought to his attention in this way, his name was changed.
[39:22] His name was changed. And this is the idea that the New Testament follows out on the Bible, in the Old Testament as well, when it speaks about Christians. It says this, God does this for them, thou shalt be called by a new name.
[39:38] You have it in the book of Revelation, whosoever overcometh, I will give a white stone and on it, a new name will be written. It means that for every single convert, God has something wonderful in you.
[39:53] He has something wonderful in you for Peter, thou shalt be called Sivas, the Jewish name for the Greek word, Petros, or rock.
[40:04] Thou shalt become a rock. He wasn't a rock that day, far from it, but he would become one, I haven't got time to deal with this. He would become one as God fashioned him and moulded him and chiseled him out as it were to become this great rock in his own church on earth and in heaven above.
[40:31] And that is what happens in every single case of conversion. The Lord, when you are introduced to the Lord, you are brought face to face with someone who is going to change you, someone who is going to do for you what you couldn't do for yourself, someone who is going to make you what you couldn't become yourself.
[40:54] Thou shalt be called, thou shalt become. Grace is imparted, this deals with a great and a perplexing question.
[41:08] here the question is to what extent does grace change a present nature? You see, overnight, let me predict this, and I'm nearly finished, you know that Peter by nature is a very impetuous man, very impetuous, he's the type of man who did something and then thought about it afterwards, but after other people, they weigh up the situation first and then they do a thing.
[41:41] Well, Peter was rather impetuous, he went at a thing at once, he didn't stop to ask questions, he just went, he did a thing, and of course that is why so often he regretted doing what he did, but that's the type of man he was, he was impetuous, now when the Lord, when he met the Lord that day, Peter didn't cease to be impetuous that day, he was always impetuous, but what happened was that grace moulded his nature so that as he went on in life he became less impetuous, that's what happens, grace changes you, you become what you were not, not overnight, you don't become a changed personality as it were overnight, but grace so operates that it moulds you and patterns you until the time comes that you will be what you never were in this world, perfect, and this is the great and the wonderful hope that the gospel holds out to every single
[42:58] Christian, that they are in the process of becoming what they are not tonight, in the process of being moulded, so that the Christian is always living for something better than he has, he's got the best, Jesus, that he cannot, that anyone can have in this world, he's got the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's got all the blessings that God can communicate to him through faith in Jesus, there is no one in the world, as I tried to show you earlier, he's got more joy than the Christian, this is the man, of all men you can cry Eureka, we have found the Lord, Lord, but you see, one of the great blessings that he has is this, that as he looks beyond the present to the unknown future, which is in
[44:07] God's hand for him, he knows this, he isn't tonight what he would want to be, he isn't the witness that he would love to be, but he knows that before the Lord is finished with him, he will be a perfect witness for Christ, then said Daniel, speaking about that great day, then he says, they that are wine shall shine as the stars in the firmament of heaven, and they shall also shine as those who have turned many to righteousness, and they that be wine shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the star forever and ever.
[45:13] what a blessed prospect that holds out for the Christian here tonight, when he is so aware of his own darkness, and his own dullness, and his own unfitness, and his own ability to communicate the wonder and the glory and the truth of this salvation as he would want.
[45:36] God my friend, you remember this, you are in the hand of one who has said of you, thou shalt be, and God's purpose will never be thwarted for you.
[45:55] Know that, what about yourself here tonight, as you leave this place of worship, once more, do you have anything at all you can say to your loved ones about the Lord Jesus Christ?
[46:14] Ah, what a solemn question that is. Do you have anything you can say about the Lord? What a pathetic life you raise if you can't, and what a prude witness you raise in the home that God has given.
[46:37] What a nice it would be for them if you were to go home to them tonight and say do you know that I have found the Lord and then what a bright future would spread out before you with all your inadequacies and your failings you have walked up to know assuredly that you will become perfect in the hand of the Lord may God grant it let us pray bless us and guide us and help us strengthen our hearts that we may become faithful witnesses to thyself and true witnesses before thee in the presence of those who are with us in the world have mercy upon us for our failings and oh help us with praying to live for thyself forgiving sin for Jesus sake amen