In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of perseverance in prayer, using the example of Daniel from the Bible. He highlights how Daniel mourned and fasted for three weeks, seeking understanding from God. Despite not receiving an immediate answer, Daniel continued to pray and on the twenty-first day, an angel appeared to him with a message. The preacher also shares a personal testimony of his own transformation through the power of the blood of Jesus, encouraging listeners to surrender their rebellion and be washed in the blood of the Lamb. The sermon concludes with a prayer for blessings and a reminder of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

139, please. 139. Beneath the cross of Jesus, I say would take my stand, The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land, A home within the wilderness, A rest upon the way, From the burning of the noontide heat, And the burden of the day. 139, please. 139, please. Beneath the cross of Jesus, I say would take my stand, The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land, A home within the wilderness, A rest upon the way, From the burning of the day. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave, And the home of the brave, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? Were so gallantly streaming? The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave, And the home of the brave, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, Again this evening, we're following the footsteps of Christ, And we're at Luke's Gospel, Chapter 23, Luke's Gospel, Chapter 23, You remember last Tuesday, we were standing by the cross, And we were looking at the cruel, brutal crucifixion, And I've had quite a number of phone calls, And the lady who's in the meeting now came to me this evening, And she said, you know, until my dying day, I will never forget last Tuesday, I didn't see the crucifixion just like that. We looked at the person they crucified, the Lord of Glory. If the preachers of this world had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. We not only looked at the person they crucified, We looked at the place where he was crucified, And the place called Calvary, Golgotha, the place of the scum. But we not only looked at the person and the place, We looked at the period of time he was on the cross, From the third hour right through to the sixth hour. And these six hours, they divided into two. For the first three hours, everything was in daylight, And it was there that the Lord made most of his things. For the second three hours, darkness came over the land, And the Lord entered into the depths then of the work of the cross. And I divide and I keep separate all the time the crucifixion From the atoning work, from the propitiation, From the redemption that was made, And from the reconciliatory work that was accomplished at the cross of Calvary. But tonight we want to linger at the cross, And we want to listen very gently to the first saying of the Savior on the cross. There are seven sayings of the Savior on the cross, And at the cross we won't deal with the seven. We're going to rush on and go into this great redemption, And make a comment, And going on to the brilliant and glorious resurrection and ascension, And then the class of starting this great truth or doctrine of demonology. I think that we're going to be astonished when we come to the doctrine of demonology. I think that a great many believers right across the land, right across the world, Don't understand properly what principalities and powers And the rules of the darkness of this world, What spiritual wickedness in high places really means. But we'll come to that. Next week we're going to look at this great redemptive work at the place called Calvary. But tonight we're just lingering at the cross About this first saying. And we're at Luke's Gospel, chapter 23. Luke's Gospel 23, verse 22. And there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, There they crucified him and the malefactors, One on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Now this is the first saying of the Saviour on the cross. He's praying, he's saying, Father, father then, for they know not what they do. And they parted his rims and cast lots, and the people stood beholding. I want you to try to get the theme properly into your mind. You can see the Saviour coming, Bearing his cross, With Simon the Cyrenean carrying the easy end of the cross. Because it's perfectly true that Jesus never gave a cross to bear, but he bore the heavy end. And I think it should be noted as we pass by, That as the scribes and pharisees and rulers and soldiers, Took hold of Simon the Cyrenean, They took hold of a dark man, he was a black-skinned man. And I think that all the coloured people all over the world, Should feel a little bit proud, That one of them was selected to carry the cross. Or to help to carry the cross. And when they came to this place called Calvary, These four soldiers who were in charge of the crucifixion, And this centurion who was over them, who was thought the sergeant major, They laid this cruel, old, rugged cross on the ground. And then they stripped the caver stark naked. I've been often questioned about this. They parted his garments among them, And for his vesture did they cast lots. And if they took his garments and his vesture, He was naked now. I think we get a little touch of this in Hebrews, When it says, he endured the cross, he despised the shame. And what a moment it was, As the Lord of Glory was stripped stark naked before this cross. You remember that he had been scourged before this. They had bent him over the scourging pool in Pilate's hall, And with that long leather thong they had ploughed furrows in his back. And that bleeding back now is laid down on this cruel cross. And one soldier takes his hand and stretches it out, And another one holds the nail, And another one drives it through. The nailing! My Lord, to the tree. And as they nailed him on the ground to this old rugged cross, His lines flapped out, His lips moved, And he said, Father, forgive them, For they know not what they do. And I think it's most important that we take time with this First saying of the Savior on the cross. If you look at your notes you'll find That I have outlined for you This saying like this. There are lessons for us here in this meeting to learn From this saying this evening. And there's a prophecy way back in Isaiah 63 Where it says That we need in procession for the transgressors There's a prophecy for us to ponder. And there's a need here for us to note That forgiveness from God Is never at the expense of justice. And there's a prophecy for us to see this evening For even sins of ignorance Because it says these men knew not what they were doing That even sins of ignorance need forgiveness. There's a blindness for us to behold They knew not! And there's a moment for us to mark It was just then When they had stretched his naked body Out on the cruel old rugged cross And were naming him to the tree It was then! Then said Jesus Father! Forgive them they know not what they do. You know sometimes I find people coming arguing with me about posture In prayer. A man who was here this evening said to me once You know some of the folk in the prayer meeting stand up when they're praying And some of the folk don't bow Some of the folk kneel Some of them don't bow I said what's troubling you? He said well Paul said I bow my knees That's very true I said And it's very true that Paul bows his knees And interceded and supplicated and prayed That's very true But I can tell you friend that it's also true That when he was in the Philippian jail with his feet fast in the stocks That his backside was on the ground He was sitting with his feet straight out in the stocks And he prayed! Because I can argue that you have to sit you know Sometimes you have to deal with queer cases In a big meeting They think they know it all But I can tell you That you can pray in any posture Oh I know that Paul bowed his knees I know that the Lord Jesus knelt in Gethsemane Under the olive trees I know that Paul prayed while he was sitting In the Philippian jail with his feet fast in the stocks I know that Abraham prayed standing before God Because Abraham stood before the Lord I know that Nehemiah prayed when he was standing before a king With his eyes open I know all that And I know that the Lord Jesus prayed lying on the broad of his back on the cross So for any sake stop your nonsense Don't be trying to split hairs with me because You're only going to get yourself into trouble Because you reveal your ignorance And the bit you don't know I'll tell you So don't go trapping around and trying to be somebody about nothing You can pray kneeling You can pray sitting You can pray standing You can pray lying on the broad of your back In fact I'm pretty sure That a great bit of praying that really counts in this world Is done by folks Who are on the broad of their back And may never be offered again Sometimes the old folks come to me you know and they say I'm done In fact just this morning after meeting this morning They not only have this bible reading but they have a great prayer meeting just before the meeting And I just go in and sit and listen to the prayers And I heard an old lady praying And I opened my eyes to have a look at her And I judged that she was pretty well on in years And so when the prayer meeting was over I just juggled over and shook her hand And I said It's nice to see you in the prayer meeting you're not a wee girl anymore She says I'm 85 And I'll tell you a wee thing Mr Mullin From 4 o'clock to 5 o'clock every morning I lie on the broad of my back and pray for you And I never miss that hour It's such a humble thing you know Sometimes God blesses you And folks are saved and folks are helped And folks are blessed and all the rest of it But there's an old lady you know At 55 lying in the morning praying for you When the day dawns and the shepherds flee away You know the Lord will bring her forward And when the judgment seat of Christ Is in action Some of these old souls Will have more rewards than the preachers So you old folks you know Don't be talking about being done If the Lord has blessed you here Then there's something for you to do And you know we're finding out now That when the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross And they're putting the nails to his feet You know we can pray when we cannot do anything else According to all the rules of physical this and that He couldn't get up He couldn't move I know that as God he could have moved But you know we can pray when we cannot do anything else I think that sometimes we forget about Daniel Do you remember that? Shall we have a look at it? Go back to Daniel And we're at Daniel chapter 10 I think it is Look at Daniel chapter 10 Verse 1 And in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia Oh I'd love to count all this up for you But if I do I shall leave immediately Of course you know that Medjugorje brought These two tribes down into Dublin And Daniel was one of the princes that was held captive And you know that Medjugorje could never reign for quite a while And then you know that Belshazzar came on after him And you remember the night when the writing was on the wall And that night Belshazzar was slain And Darius the Midian took the kingdom So that you have the reign of Medjugorje never And Belshazzar And then you come to Darius And then you come to one or two more And then you come to the third year of Cyrus And I can tell you something Seventy years Of Roman rule Because Cyrus was going to send Some of these people back to the land again And the revival that Habakkuk had prayed for Long before it Is going to take place now For God is going to revise his work in the midst of the years So that if you take seventy years And add them on to whatever age Daniel was when he came down You will find he is no chicken now Some of us believe that he was sixteen years of age Some of the scholars believe he was fourteen But either fourteen or sixteen will do And if he was sixteen when he came down to Babylon A young prince And you put seventy to it he is thirty six now So he is an old man now Now watch this very carefully In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia A thing was revealed unto Daniel Whose name was called Balthasar That is the Babylonish name they gave him And the thing was true But the time appointed was long And he understood the thing And had understanding of the vision In those days I Daniel was mourning Three full weeks I ate no pleasant bread Neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth Neither did I anoint myself at all So three whole weeks were fulfilled And in the fourth and twentieth day of the first month Twenty one days had gone by And this old man had got on his knees And then the angel came with the message And he heard the message in verse twelve Then said he unto me Fear not Daniel For from the first day that thou didst check Thine heart to understand And to chasten thyself before thy God Thy words were heard But you know Daniel had to go on with the praying Twenty one days Without giving up Let me tell you There is not one in the meeting who knows anything about it My dear old folks in the meeting The Lord hath left you here If he had wanted you in heaven it would be quite simple He could stop your breath And when you can't do anything else You can pray Sometimes the evangelists are rooting for choir With lovely dress behind them Give me a child Of praying women Old ladies is the life Give them to me and I'll get on with the job Let's learn lessons here tonight You see we can pray When we cannot do anything else You know when the Lord Jesus said Father for children For they know not what they do It should teach us That the vilest sinners Are not beyond the power of hell They're not you know I learned this Not only in the book I learned this in life You see I'm the youngest one of the family of seventeen And there were sixteen of us boys And when I was a young man of sixteen I came home drunk And let me say this to you And you listen with two ears In case you think I'm somebody From sixteen until I was twenty four I never came home one night sober Everybody in our district And street and the next one And in the town They were fed up with me And I didn't give two hoots a good one of them Came home drunk and cut Everybody around me Broke my old mother's heart And many a time I can still see her Helping me onto the couch And putting my feet up And putting the rug over me And getting down on her two knees And said Lord Lord you'll have to save my life And I wasn't beyond The power of hell All that we could learn Have you surrendered you me fellow Is it so far away that you've surrendered him And I see him on you The most wicked men in the world Were the men who were nailing The Lord of Glory to the cross Ignorant, wicked, blatant sinners And Jesus is saying Father Forgive them And don't think that the prayer went unanswered For on the day of Pentecost Three thousand souls were saved And I believe these fellows were among them All those lessons for us to learn It goes to Isaiah 53 just for the moment The prophecy of Isaiah 53 It's one of those great prophecies And there are so many pictures in it That one would be afraid to touch it in a meeting like this The time would be touched You see there's a picture of Christ here in the second verse In the days of his flesh It says in the first verse And for whom is the arm of the Lord revealed For he, that is the Lord Jesus Shall grow up before him, that is Jehovah As a tender plant And as a root out of a dry ground You know there was something absolutely unique about his life He was like a special plant And while the whole desert ground of the whole complete world was burnt There was one leaf that came out of it That prayed God at all times As he grew up before God as a tender plant And as a root out of a dry ground He left as a Jewish nation at the same time He had no form of humbleness When we should see him There is no beauty that we should desire of him You see while God was enjoying Christ The Jews saw no beauty in him How blind they were Not only have we a picture here of his life But we have a picture here of his death It says verse 4 To me he outburned our griefs and punished our sorrows Yet we did esteem him stricken Slitten of God and afflicted But he was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities All we like sheep have gone astray We have turned everyone to his own way And the Lord hath laid on him The iniquity of it all Verse 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him He hath put him to grief When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin You know you have the life and death And resurrection of Christ In this wonderful chapter And the chapter ends like this At the last two phrases And he bared the sin of many And then Isaiah scribbled this And made intercession For the transgressors You know that is the prophecy And the day it was foretold Was the day when these soldiers Stretched out his hands And put the cruel nails through his hands and feet It was then in these words That he made intercession For the transgressors And you know this again Brings us an evidence of the accuracy of the book Well Isaiah could never have thought of a phrase like that could he? On his own Surely he was inspired to write this Surely this is an inspired chapter This is an inspired phrase We can go into prophecy and prove the accuracy And the inspiration of this book In a million ways But it doesn't only prove the accuracy of the book It proves the sincerity of the Lord You know the Lord really prayed for his sons Sometimes I say to myself Oh to have a passion for souls like Christ had You know he loved sinners Sometimes I say to myself Oh to have a purpose Like Christ had His whole bent was to glorify God Every step, every word, every thought Was just to please the Father And there were times when God opened the heavens And said this is my beloved son In whom I am well pleased Oh to have a passion like Christ Oh to have a purpose like Christ Oh to have a prayer like Christ Yeah we need to pray for our enemies A fella rang me up not so long ago Said Mr. Molnar sent his money I'm prepared to pitch a big tent about Michael Phelps somewhere And we'll try and get all the Christians in Oxford To come together for friendly things If you agree to be the leader I said I have one question to ask Will you pray for the rebels? Will you pray for the IRA who are murdering foot every night? No! he said Be a red hot Protestant I said you can't have me in your tent My wife's a kid! They're rebels! Fire! Target them! They know not what they do And you can pray that for the IRA every day And unless we're prepared to pray for our enemies You may chuck it up Jesus said pray for those who despitefully use you We need to get down to do that, don't we? You can see the accuracy of the book And you can see the sanctity of the Lord You know I think that this is most important here There's a need here in this saying for us to note You know forgiveness from God To have the forgiveness of sins It's never at the expense of justice Let me look at one or two scriptures and the light will come, alright Let's go to Psalm 32 32nd Psalm, verse 1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven You know the word blessed, the old Hebrew word asher there It's the word happy Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven You know when you know the forgiveness of sins It brings a happiness into your very soul But the full stop is not there you know Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven Whose sin is covered You can't get this forgiveness without this covering And that's very strange because the word atonement The old Hebrew word atonement is the word cover I think if you go back now to Ephesians At the first chapter maybe you will get the whole light The letter to the Ephesians And we're at the first chapter And we're at verse 7 And Paul is talking about Christ And he says of him In whom we have redemption through his blood The forgiveness of sins You see this forgiveness It is never given at the expense of justice You see Christ had to be Spare evil than this cross and where he knew it And whose blood had to be shed Sacrificially Without the shedding of blood There is no forgiveness Well he knew that And my dear unsaved friend I don't care who you are or where you come from Unless you cleanse in Christ's blood You'll never be in heaven and you'll never know forgiveness Don't you think you can buy this you Roman Catholics Don't you think that candles and money and money and priests and bishops I'll tell you what the Bible says without The shedding of Christ's blood There is no remission When he talked to God's Father Forgiveness He knew exactly the cost And he was prepared to shed His blood sacrificially Sometimes you know I think we don't get it properly I think you may have been going along the road one day When you heard the scream of bricks and there's an accident And there's somebody pulled out from under the car And their blood is running into the roadside Their blood has been shed Accidentally And in this land that we're living in now Blood is being shed Brutally And I was brought up with a great surgeon And I went to the hospital and stood at the table sometimes And I saw blood being shed surgically We're not talking about blood being shed accidentally Or brutally Or surgically We're talking about Christ's blood being shed sacrificially And without the shedding of Christ's blood Sacrificially For you There is not one Nothing can force Him at all Nothing but the blood of Jesus Don't you forget that It's written in Hebrews 9 If you want to look it up sometime Without the shedding of Christ's blood There is no pardon No remission So you see that there's something here for us to note Not only lessons for us to learn And the prophecy for us to ponder And the need for us to note Now there's a sufficiency for us to see I think that perhaps this is the greatest part of the lesson Let's go back to Leviticus chapter 5 please We're at Leviticus And we're at the fifth chapter Now I want you to get the hold of this Take your time and find the place It's Leviticus It's chapter 5 And it's verse 13 that we're reading at And the Lord speak unto Moses He's talking to Moses saying If us all commit a trespass And sin through ignorance Now I want you to get the hold of this Because we're talking about the sin of ignorance now If us all commit a trespass and sin through ignorance In the holy things of the Lord Then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a lamb without blemish Out of the flocks And that lamb of course was the type of Christ It says in verse 17 And if us all sin and commit any of these things Which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord Though he wish it not He's entirely ignorant of the things That is ridiculous And you get off on the wrong foot you know You go down through the town at 80 miles an hour And the police car pulls you in and you say I didn't know there was a place with my limit on I'm afraid there wasn't But you know it's much deeper than that He's not one of us And that includes me and you But we sin every day In fact and in word and in deed And you don't know sometimes Why the very thought of foolishness is sin It's bullshit And the wee things that flash through your mind And the words that you utter sometimes They're all sinners The boy that tells me that he hasn't sinned for the last 20 years Doesn't even know about Leviticus 5 Sins of ignorance But remember this Sins of ignorance needs God's forgiveness Jesus said Father forgive them They know not what they do Oh I know they were ignorant alright They were ignorant of the person they were kneeling to the tree They didn't know he was God's son They were ignorant that the only sinless man Who had lived on this planet for over 30 years without sin They were kneeling him to the tree They didn't really know this They were ignorant of a thousand things But I'll tell you this They'll need forgiveness For they're ignorant Don't you bluff yourself You know that you'll dress yourself up And get a few coppers into the plate And sing in the choir And slip into heaven You sinner you, you'll go to hell You need forgiveness And nothing but the blood of Jesus can forgive you And you know this is worth noting isn't it When you take the sins of ignorance That need God's forgiveness For sin is always sin in God's sight How precious the blood that cleansed From all sin You know I was talking to a lady the other day Who gets strips of depression About her past sins And she plotted one or two of them up to me Things that she had done when she was a girl That she's ashamed of now And I said to her When you said Jesus was wounded for all transgressions Did he bear your sins, your transgressions? She said he did Did he bear all of them? Not these ones that you're worried about Because I can tell you dear If he didn't bear these ones on the cross You're damned for all eternity He's not coming back to do it again If he left some of them out you're finished Now very reasonably and clearly she saw this She said that's amazing Oh thank God I rushed about And it seemed that her burden rolled away And then she met me the next day and said I know all about that I know he wore my sins away In his own body in the tree But there are things that I don't even know that I do Ignorance You know there's a tremendous verse in the book I'll just read it to you, listen to me just while I read it If we walk in the light that he is in the light We have fellowship done with another And the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin And the word cleanses there means keeps on cleansing That's why I can come into God's presence That's why I can expect God's blessing It's not because I'm a great fellow I said to her dear It's like the rifle in a car It keeps on working you know And it doesn't only wipe the water off It wipes the blood from all our cars off And those are things you don't even know about And she got the hold of this She says praise God for the blood of Jesus I don't think you can say that alone enough The blood of Jesus Christ God's son Keeps on cleansing like the wiper on the window of the car Keeps on cleansing from all sin Oh how precious this blood must be I think you see this I think you can read the lesson And I think you know about the prophecy now And the need for us to know And the proficiency for us to see Oh the blindness that's here for us to behold They knew not You know I think that this blindness is a terrible thing When it's in the unbelief But I think it's more terrible when it's in the believable Let me do this, I know there's a lot going on But let's go back to Revelation chapter 3 please Just for a moment And the Lord's talking to believers here And they were believers in the church of the Laodiceans The church that was in Asia And these were believers And you know they were so conceited that they said Verse 17 just to save time Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing That's the way they were talking you know Trying to make it appear that they were the whole cheese My we are the people That's what they were saying And here's what the Lord Jesus said to these believers Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing And knowest not That thou art wretched And miserable And poor And blind And wretched Oh how dreadful you know to be in this condition And you don't even know about it It's so easy to be a Baptist Pharisee you know So easy No apologies for that I know a cloud of them So easy to be a Baptist Pharisee And you can come bless and kick up And sing your hymns And amen and ever after this And knowest not It is Christ's words And knowest not That thou art wretched And miserable And poor And blind And wretched I should take each word and preach for an hour on it What wretched Christians means What miserable Christians means What poor Christians means What blind Christians mean What wretched Christians mean Knowest not You remember that Samson shook himself and went out one day And wist not Oh he didn't know now He didn't know that the Lord wasn't with him at all It's bad enough when the rebels are ignorant But it's dreadful when the saints are ignorant But the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing doesn't it I think there's a moment for us to mark here You know when they put him on the cross And were nailing him to the tree When wickedness was at it's worst Just then The book said Then Said Jesus When wickedness was at it's worst Jesus was at his best Friends we'll need to pray better for the rebels and the sinners Than we have been doing And they will learn the lessons this evening I think it would be kind to sing Just two verses Of five hundred and sixty six To remember not only Does the Lord make intercession for the transgressors He intercedes For you and me We have a high priest tonight And he intercedes for us Amid the child that I meet Amid the thorns that pierce my feet One thought remains supremely sweet Thou thinkest Lord of me First and last verses Five six six please Amid the child that I meet Amid the thorns that pierce my feet One thought remains supremely sweet Just before we sing the last verse You know there might be a sinner in this place this evening And you know in your heart just now That you have not the forgiveness of sins And you know now Without the shedding of Christ's blood Sacrificially You can never have the forgiveness of sins And you're beginning to learn something Of the efficaciousness Of the blood that was shed at Calvary Are you prepared to throw down Your skinny arms of rebellion And come and be washed In the blood of the Lamb this evening Mind you God can make you whiter than snow this evening Because there's power in the blood Come and have a chat with me God bless you The last verse please I will come and I will go Let my feet rise up on your throne I will come and I will go Dear Lord part us in thy fear And with thy blessing And take us to our homes in safety Through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen He walked that lonesome road Up Calvary He bore a heavy load For you and me In blood he paid the price That only could suffice On the tree He did not count the cost And turn away He'd come to seek the lost Who'd gone astray He paid the debt And set us free When he walked that lonesome road Up Calvary They sealed him in the tomb What grief But then he broke its power and gloom And rose again Today he lives on high To hear our faintest cry He's coming by and by We know not when What boundless grace and love That brought him down From his bright throne above His Roman crown And here with no abode In poverty He walked that lonesome road Up Calvary