In this sermon, the preacher discusses three themes from the Bible. The first theme is about Mary standing at the sepulchre and Jesus revealing himself to her. The preacher emphasizes the importance of putting faith in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. The second theme is about the feasts of Jehovah outlined in chapter 13 of the book of Paul. The preacher highlights the significance of these feasts and their connection to the harvest. The third theme focuses on Thomas and his transgressions, but also his powerful testimony declaring Jesus as his Lord and God. The sermon encourages listeners to reflect on these themes and the message of salvation they convey.

Welcome to John's Gospel, chapter twenty again this evening. The Gospel by John, chapter twenty, and we're going right to, from verse seventeen to verse twenty-nine. Not just exactly finishing the chapter, leaving two very important verses to carry on with next week. Now we're going through from verse seventeen right through to the end of verse twenty-nine. And you will notice that we have three scenes in this passage before us this evening. The first scene, our Lord Jesus Christ with Mary. It's just a continuation of the scene that began last week, when our Lord suddenly appeared and spoke very tenderly and very lovingly and very touchingly to Mary. Now, we're going on with that scene this evening, and you'll find that when our Lord Jesus speaks to Mary and says, touch me not, I believe that Mary was really mystified. So that we have a mystified Mary here, and then the Lord gave her a great message to carry forth, and the mystified Mary became the messenger of the Lord. And what a message there is in this first scene this evening. Then we go on from the first scene to the second one, and that is where our Lord appears to His own disciples. You will find that when He appeared, they were distressed, and the moment He appeared and made Himself known, they were delighted. And then comes that great word from the Lord when He delegated them as His representatives to go into the world with a mighty message. That's a very deep part of the chapter, and we'll need to take time with that this evening. Then we'll be finishing with the third scene, that's Thomas. We shall have to underline his transgressions, because he did things and said things that he should never have said or done. We'll look at Thomas's transgressions, and then we'll listen to Thomas's testimony. My, what a word he brought forth from the depths of his heart as he gave to the risen Savior, my Lord and my God. Three scenes this evening. Now, let's begin at verse seventeen. Jesus said unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet attended to my Father. And this has given many scholars many hours of pondering to try to get the honest sense from this very difficult saying. But before we try to get the sense this evening, let us try to get the scene. I believe for you younger ones, if you ever get to a difficult passage, try to picture the scene first. Let your imagination get working before you let your understanding get working, or you may get muddled. If you can picture the scene as it's in the book, I think it will help you to the sense. So, let's begin with the scene. You remember that Mary was standing at the chapel, she was weeping last week, and that the Lord Jesus came and very wonderfully revealed Himself to her with just one word. And she stood there. My, I could never imitate this. I should never really try. She very lovingly and touchingly said, do you remember how she responded? My, her tears dried, her soul was alive, she almost jumped. She said, Master, Rabona. And I believe as she awoke to the fact that the Master was alive, that she came forward and fell down, and was about, was about, compassion by the feet. It was something she had done many times. Mary had been at His feet more than one should know. Why, Mary had done wonderful things at the feet of Jesus, and she's just about to catch Him by the feet, when there comes this request, touch me not. And there comes not only the request here, but there comes the reason for the request. For I am not yet ascended to my Father. Now, there are difficulties here. Why did the Lord request Mary not to touch Him? I think if you go back to Matthew 27, you'll get something that surprises you. Matthew 28. Let's just have a look at this. It's the very same day, and it's almost in the very same place. Matthew 28. You remember last week that I pointed out that Mary came very early to the sepulcher while it was yet dark, and that other Gospels teach us that other women came. And here is one of these occasions. Verse 5 will do us to start with. Matthew 28, verse 5. And the angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen. As he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall you see him, though I have told you. They departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disciples worth. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All here. And they came and held him by the feet. Worship Him. It's the same day. It can't be very many moments later. And yet, on one occasion, the Lord said, Touch me not. And on the other occasion, the woman actually holds him by the feet. Now, why this difference? Makes you think, doesn't it? We shall be finding out in our own chapter this evening that a week later he actually invited Thomas to put his hand into the side and feel the kneel-pierced hand that had come back from the dead. Now, why does he invite Thomas? Why does he allow the other woman? Why does he request merely, Touch me not? There is something deep. I know there is something difficult. The beginning of the answer is in the reason he gave. He said, Touch me not. Now, watch it. For I am not yet ascended to my Father. I am not yet ascended to my Father. Would it make you think that between the time that he saw Mary and the time that he saw the other woman that he'd gone to heaven and come back again? You shouldn't hang your hat, you know, on one or two nails. You need more than that. Let me take you way back into the Old Testament. The book of Leviticus, chapter 23. The book of Leviticus, chapter 23. Sometime, when you get time, maybe you would go through this whole chapter. It's a wonderful one. It's the chapter that outlines all the feasts of Jehovah that the Jews kept in Palestine and still keep. These feasts of Jehovah. Do you see what it says at the beginning of the chapter? It says, in verse 4, These are the feasts of the Lord. That is, the feasts of Jehovah, even holy convocations which he shall proclaim in the season. And the first one, in verse 5, was the Passover feast. And there are seven of them in this chapter. And the last one is the feast of double-deckers. Now, in between there are five others. But here's the one that I want you to watch very carefully just now. Verse 9 says, And the Lord speak unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye become into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest, and he shall weigh the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you. I want you to watch this reading. On the morrow, after the Sabbath, the priest shall weigh it. This is called the feast of first fruits. Very important feast in history. Of course, you do know that our Lord Jesus Christ is the center and substance of all these feasts. I didn't go into that. Well, even the New Testament says that Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. He was the antitype of the Passover, and the day that Jesus died and said, It is finished, then the Passover feast of the feast was finished forever. The antitype had met all the requirements. And that brought redemption, and redemption shall eventually bring us eternal rest. And that will be the Feast of Carbon Echoes, the seventh one, perfect rest. But this one, this is the Feast of First Fruits. And when Israel was in the land, and they began to reap their harvest, on the day that they were reaping their harvest, they brought a sheaf. It is called the First Fruits of the Harvest. And they gave it to the priest. I want you to watch that. And the priest took this sheaf, and he went in before the Lord. That's the bit that's very important. Do you see it all? Watch it, and I'll try to get it out for you. See at the end of verse 10, Ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest. That's what they were to do. And he shall weigh the sheaf before the Lord. That's what he was to do. Now, that meant this, that he received his sheaf of the first fruits, and he went into the double nettle, and he went in before the Lord. And a way of offering meant this, that he weaved the sheaf to that side, then he brought it right over, and he weaved it to that side, and then he put it right over to that side, and then he put it right over here. Which means that this, Lord, is the first fruits of the harvest from the four ends of the earth, was to do. That's the way of offering. But he was to do it before the Lord. Watch this wee bit. Did you see it? Verse 11, And he shall weave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you. It doesn't only tell you what he was to do, but it tells you who he was to do it for. He was to do it for the people who brought it, the believers. But it doesn't only tell you what he was to do and who he was to do it for. It tells you when he was to do it. Did you notice that? On the morrow, after the Sabbath. When's the Sabbath? Saturday, the seventh day. When's the morrow after the Sabbath? Sunday, the first day of the week, the day of resurrection. And the day of resurrection demanded that the one who would be the firstfruits of the earth. And when we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, it says that our Lord Jesus Christ is the firstfruits from the dead. And it demanded that the one who would be the firstfruits would go in before the Lord. Now, when you think that he stopped merely from touching, and then a few moments later he allowed the other woman to grasp his feet, you are bound to see that he meant something that was very important when he said, Don't touch me, for I am not yet ascendant to my Father. And when I begin to get a deduction from putting the word together, and I get typology to back it up, and I hear our Lord Jesus Christ saying, I have not yet. Yet. Ascendant. The deduction and the implication and the typology would make me come to the conclusion that our Lord Jesus Christ was ascendant from the moment he spoke to Mary and came back again to meet the others. There is no other way out of it. No other way. I believe he kept to the text, and I believe that he was trying to impress the yet-upon-her. And yet I believe this, that there is not only the interpretation of this thing, there's the interpretation of the passage, but there is the illumination of the woman. I think that's very important, too. You see, we must always remember this. I think I've tried to teach the younger ones this before. When you come to any passage, any phrase, any verse, any paragraph, there is only one interpretation. Well, there can't be a whole lot if there would be five or six interpretations of a phrase. Where would we be? No, there can only be one interpretation. Now, of the same phrase, there may be a thousand applications. It can be applied in different ways. It can be used as an illustration in quite a number of ways. There is only one interpretation, there are many applications, and there can be a thousand illustrations. Now, I believe that while the interpretation is the one I've given, it's the only one that's honest. Our Lord Jesus Christ went in as the first fruit, and was acceptable before God, and came back to earth, and then the woman were allowed to touch Him. I believe that while that is the interpretation, I believe there was an illumination that He was trying to bring to Mary. And I think it's this one. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ is out on resurrection ground, and here is Mary just seeing Him for the first time. And she runs to bow before Him and grasp His feet, and He says, Don't touch! You see, she thought she was going to hold Him with the same old hands that she'd always done. And so did the other. But you know, it's going to be different now. This is a new position altogether. I'm not out of the grave to remain on earth to be cuddled by you, Mary. I'm going up higher, and if you're going to touch me, it will have to be with a hand of faith. You touch Him today, you know, teaching Mary about a new position. And she would need to reach Him with the hands of faith. Do you ever touch Him? Because that's what He was really bringing to her mind in illumination. The old position is over, Mary. I'm not out of here, you know, to wait on me. I'm going to ascend. And if you want to draw near and touch me, it will have to be with the hands of faith. It was a great lesson. It's a believer getting to know Him in a new way. But then He goes on. Not only did He say, Touch me not, I am not yet ascended, but He went on to make this mystified woman His messenger. Verse 17 says, But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my gods and your gods. You know, I think this is a very lovely thing. You know, you can see two things here. You can see the uniqueness of Christ. He kept Himself out from the rest, you know. He said, I'm going on to my Father and your Father. He didn't put us all in one bunch and say, our Father, or not, or not. He keeps Himself out, because God was His Father in a very special sense. And we mustn't get these senses mixed up. God was Her Father in quite a different sense. And so He keeps the uniqueness of His own Sonship and the blessedness of Her Sonship or Daughtership, He keeps them all together separated. And He does the same with God. Yes, He says, I'm the servant of God, He's my God, but all through the Scriptures He's called THE servant of Jehovah. And He's keeping that quite distinct from yourselves. My God and your God. They were learning about a new position, and they were learning about a new way to know Him. But look, here's a lovely thing, and I mustn't forget this, when He said, but go to my brethren. I suppose I shall shock some of you who don't really read the Scriptures when I say that this is the first time in the New Testament that the Lord Jesus has called His disciples brethren at the first time. Always before this He called them disciples, He called them friends, He called them servants, never until this moment did He call them brethren. You see, this wonderful relationship is only ours on resurrection ground. Yet being raised from the dead, He's not ashamed to call them brethren. And it's only on resurrection ground that that wonderful relationship comes. Can you see this from the notes? When He said, touch me not, believers are getting to know Him in a new way. When He said, my Father and your Father, believers are beginning to see their new position. When He said, my brethren, believers are getting to know the new relationship, it was a wonderful message that this mystified messenger had to carry to the disciples. And Mary carried it out. In verse 18, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto her. That'll do it for the first scene. It's hard to get the second one. Then the same day of evening. Now, it's the same day, it's the first day of the week, resurrection day. Being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the deuce. Now, you can see they're distressed, can't you? You know, it almost amazes you, and yet when you know your own heart, it really doesn't. Remember, these men had mighty power. You know, they'd gone out, and even the devil would subject unto them. Why, these fellows had such slippers, and they'd been healed. And they'd had great experiences of mighty, powerful intrusion. And yet here they are, you know, sitting behind the closed doors, neither afraid. It just tells you, you know, that the servants of God, no matter how much blessing and gift they may have, at the end they're only men. Never see them as anything else. The best of men are only men. Never get any other idea. Here they are, they're afraid. And I suppose had we been there, we would have just been behind the doors in the same way, maybe more by the kids up than ever. They were afraid of Caiaphas and his crowd coming and arresting them, and they too being tried and crucified. And they were afraid. But God sometimes takes these things to make glory come to his name. Now, there are some lovely things here. You can see their distress. The doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews. The same Jesus and stood in the midst. Now, it's lovely to see him in his own place, isn't it? Because the midst really belongs to him. He was in the midst of Calvary. And when we get to eternity, we shall see the Lamb in the midst of the throne. And this is his rightful position. It's lovely when the meeting takes time to let Jesus get his rightful position. It's lovely. It's not only nice to see him in his right position, but it's lovely to mark the power that put him there. He didn't need to open the doors, you know. This is really something that staggers for. You see, this mighty resurrection body of his, he was raised from the dead, and it was a bodily resurrection. There were flesh and bones, no blood. Spirit was now the animating force of that body. But the powers that that body had, we don't perfectly understand them. It could pass through the wall, just like that. And you know, if Jesus came now, just now, if the Lord himself descended from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel, every born-again believer would rise and go through that roof to meet him. I just don't know how you go through the roof, and you needn't ask me about it, but I believe. I believe. You know, it's only recently that scientists have found out that this thing is not solid at all. It's made of atoms. They're all packed in together. And this thing is made of atoms, too. And if we could really control the thing, the one can pass through the other. Now, I shall shock this meeting, and I think I'll shock it more on Sunday night, because I intend to bring this into the message on Sunday night. In 1906 days, in September, Khrushchev went to America to the great conference there, and I think you remember something about it. He got outrageous, and he hammered the table with his shoe, and he ate the food like he always does. Now, there were some things behind all this. You see, the Russians determined at that very time, in that very month, to block out three of the states, of the United States. And they had a mighty thing called antimatter. And they have it tonight. And I've just been reading all about it all this week. And an egg cup full of antimatter turned onto a car. In a split second, you can't find the car anymore. It disappeared. Now, they tried this antimatter out. And away at the back of the Siberian desert, there were mountains. And they took a plane over, and tumbled out some antimatter, and where two mountain peaks used to be, tonight, now, there are two lakes. Mountains are gone. And the American spy of the U.S. who, you remember, he was captured, he had gone over time and again to take pictures. And he had pictures of these mountains before they were removed. And for two or three times afterwards, he couldn't find them. He said, I'm on the course, I'm dead on the beam, but they're not there. And the American intelligence wouldn't believe him. But the Russians had used antimatter and taken the two hills away. And old Khrushchev, when he went to that meeting in America, didn't live in a hotel, you remember. He lived in the Baltiga, the Russian boat that was well barricaded on every side. And on the night that the Russians were to come over, he was to slip away out to sea. And they were going to blot out three states with antimatter and let the Americans know the power they had. Now, when Russians have mighty power like this, you won't sit and quibble about the power that our Lord has. There were no difficulties at all in getting in through the wall. Not at all. I don't let anybody hear you talking like that as if there were problems. There were no problems from the Lord. It was mighty power that put them in the midst. And I want you to notice what he said. This is very lovely. He just suddenly appeared in the midst of these frightened disciples, and he said, My peace be unto you. It's very lovely to notice that our Lord, just before his death, as he was walking out to Gethsemane, you remember we had it in John's Gospel, to Sweden, he said, My peace be unto you. So that yesterday and today, and I believe, I believe for all eternity, his great heart is going out to us that we might have peace, because he is the same yesterday and today and forever. It's lovely to see him in his position, it's lovely to notice the power, it's lovely to draw the line under the peace, but I want you to notice the proof. There's plenty. And when he had shown death, he showed unto them his hand and his side. Now, this is where I have arguments with the Russellites, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Millennial Donalds. They don't believe that Jesus rose bodily from the grave. Old Russell said in one of his books that Christ's body dissolved into gases. That was poison gas, all right. Then, when the Lord Jesus came through the wall, he showed them his hand. What would be the use of showing them his hand if it's not the same body? Would you like to come round and tell me? In one of the other Gospels he said, Handle me and see, a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. And here he's showing them his hand and his side. It's the same body. He has been brought out from the dead. Last week we saw him rising out through the foam of the linen cloth. Bodily resurrection. But there's no blood, it's only flesh and bones. Friends, the spirit was the unemitting force. And what a mighty body it is. And one day we shall be like him, made unto his glorious body. Now, these distressed disciples, when they saw the Lord and were absolutely sure, this little phrase comes in, Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. You know, their distress was being changed to delight. Now, I'll be showing you in a moment or two that Thomas wasn't there. You know, I would love to take time tonight to talk to all the believers who ought to be out at God's house on Lord's Day morning, because if you miss the message on the first day of the week, mind you, you might go on your whole week in distress. How many of God's people have come to God's house on the first day of the week, many times come, distressed, depressed, despondent, and as the message was presented, Christ appeared. And they got a glimpse, and they saw his face, and they heard his voice, and they felt his touch, and they left the meeting absolutely refreshed. And you lose all that, mind you, if you're not on the Lord's Day morning, because Thomas lost it. He went on a whole week down in the dumps, because he wasn't out on Lord's Day morning. Rather, it was evening here. Now, we come to the type of rejection. I want you to get this whole scene again. Verse 21, Then said Jesus to them again, and no wonder he said it again, Peace be unto you. Now, he looks at each one of them, they're absolutely sure now that he's alive, and it's the same Jesus, and he starts commissioning them again. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. Now, he was putting a pathway before them. He had been sent into the world, now he was sending them into the world. He was sending them into the world to proclaim something. There was a pathway, but there was a proclamation that they've got to make to proclaim the gospel. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel, is what we heard in the other gospel this evening. Now, if they were going into the world to preach this message, well might he say again and again, Peace be unto you, for the devil will try to disturb it. My, you only want to try to preach this book honestly, till you find out how the devil gets up against you. He doesn't like this book. Men would stand up for idols, yet plaster casts in the Roman Catholic churches, before they would bow to the truth and God's word. And there ain't a problem if you preach the truth. Well might he say, Peace be unto you. And then something else happened. Not only did he send them out on a new pathway with a new proclamation with Peace, verse 22. And when he had said this, when he had said this, now this connects this with what he had said, when he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Because he knew if they were going out into the world to proclaim the gospel, they'd need power. Oh yes, he knew that all right. You see, you can't really preach the gospel without the power of the Holy Ghost. Can't do that. Many of our evangelical meetings while the gospel is being preached in word only. How horrible this is. Some of the great meetings in the country. Yes, they're all fundamental. They're all said. Most of them are God's side. But the gospel is being preached in word only. And it doesn't bear any fruit. You never see anybody say that. You go around and question them. I could rattle them off with my fingers. But Paul said, Oh, God spoke him not unto you in word only, but in power. And in the Holy Ghost. Oh, that's the way we like to see it preached. And when it's preached in power and in the Holy Ghost, things begin to happen. So he knew that they would need power. Now, I believe that he's speaking here just the way he prayed in John 17. He prayed in John 17, I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do. Now, the work wasn't just finished then. In fact, it hadn't been to Gethsemane or the cross. But he was anticipating. He was praying, anticipating the wonderful finish. And I believe that he's anticipating the day of Pentecost here. I don't think that he gives them the Holy Ghost right there and then. Now, there are arguments about it. There are some great scholars, and they believe that the moment he breathed here and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, that there and then they were indwelled by the Spirit of God, but the next chapter will prove it's all nonsense, because there's about seven of them running away into the night, and they never were sent at all, and they couldn't be led by the Spirit of God. I know he's only talking in anticipation of the day of Pentecost. He knows they're going out into the world. He knows the problems that are ahead. And he knows that they'll need power. Now, when he had said all this, when he said As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And he spoke about them having this power. Now we come to this tremendous verse. He said, Whosoever sins, ye remit. They are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins, ye retain. They are retained. Now, this is very deep, and admittedly very difficult. And it wants to be faced honestly. You never dodge verses like this, but you'll never get anywhere if you do. Now, we want to ask the simple question, Is our Lord Jesus Christ here in this first day of the week with these disciples, commissioning them to go out into the world? Is he giving them his own power to forgive or otherwise? Do you remember that when our Lord Jesus was working yonder in Mark chapter 2? Have a look at it. Mark's Gospel, chapter 2. Remember, the man brought the sick of the palsy and let them down through the roof of Christ's seat. Verse 5 will do us. Now, watch this carefully, because this is very fundamental. When Jesus saw their face, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were a second of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? But they were right, you know, only God can forgive sins, but they didn't know that Jesus was God. Now, we can see this, that right down through the ages, this has been God's prerogative. Only God can forgive. And God will only forgive on the grounds of atonement. There are no quibbles about that bit after that. Now, the point of this is, our Lord Jesus taking this great power, this prerogative that was his, and he's handing it out to men and saying, go on, and whom you forgive you, they'll be forgiven, and whom you don't forgive, my, he's doing nothing of the kind. Do you think that he'll have this power in the hands of men? And unless you come and be a slave in my feet, and do exactly as you're told, and let me drive you further and further, do you think that he'll give me power to make you a slave to get forgiveness? Well, that's what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Lord Jesus gave his apostles this power in this place at this time, and that power has been handed down through the ages from one to the other. I say no, they say yes. I've got to prove my faith, haven't I? And that will be very simple. If I start at the Acts of the Apostles, and I go through every verse and every chapter, will you ever find these men exercising such a power? Is this? Number one, if the Lord Jesus didn't give them power here, what has he given them? You see, let me put it so you'll always remember it. The Roman Catholic Church says he gave them might that they could forgive or otherwise. I say that he gave them a message, and it's the proclamation of that message in power, and your acceptance of it, that will allow me to say whether you're forgiven or not. You know, I'll preach this message, and I've seen men in this very place break down and weep. My eye can remember as I look down these faces now the night when some of you were there, and I can see the very men now kneeling at my side and weeping and saying, Mr. Mone, I know that this is the truth, that the Lord Jesus came and died for me and shed his blood and rose again to be my Savior, and tonight and now I accept him as my own and personal Savior by simple faith. And I can look into their face and say they're forgiven. I can, because I've got that authority. And there's some of you who go out of this place every night rejecting the Christ that I have preached my heart out to you with. And you're going out unforgiven, going out in your sin. The Lord didn't give them might to make men cringe at their feet. The Lord only gave them a message, and the proclamation of that message and your attitude to it determined whether you're forgiven or whether you're not. Now, I've got to prove that. That's only talk up to now. I must make this watertight tonight, because I wouldn't let the Roman Catholic Church get an inch here. Now, let's get over to the Acts of the Apostles, and we'll start at chapter 10. The Acts of the Apostles, and we're at chapter 10. And the reason that I'm starting at chapter 10 is because it's here that Peter, here that Peter, oh yes, we'll take Peter, as he was supposed to have all the power, he is preaching to the Gentiles, and we are Gentiles, so that we're making the thing absolutely dead on this evening. Now, here's how he preached in the House of Canaesus to the Gentiles. Verse 34. Acts 10.34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. He'd only learned this truth just a moment ago. But in every nation he that seareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with them. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all, that word, I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee up to the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people. Preach what unto the people? Now watch this. And to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be judge of quick and dead, to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sin. Is he preaching a message or exercising waste? I hope you can see he's preaching a message. And it's the same old message we preach here every Sunday. The birth, the life, the death, the resurrection of Christ, the wonderful Savior, and if you put your faith in him, you'll get forgiveness of sin. You'll get remission. Is it a message that we're entrusted with or might? Well, if it was might, he's not using it. All right, we'll not just hang it there. We'll go further. Let's go to chapter 8. Chapter 8. We'll go to chapter 13 first. This is Paul. Chapter 13. And Paul is preaching here. Preaching at Antioch. It's a long reading. I wonder can I leave it out and yet get the sense. Verse 14. Chapter 13 verse 14. And when they departed from Parga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, stay on. Then Paul stood up and beckoned with his hand and said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. And he begins to talk now about the history of the Jews. And he talks right down to David the king in verse 22, and not the verse 23. He said, Of this man said David, of God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. When John had first preached before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled this course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes in his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, unto Israel among you fear God. To you is the word of this salvation sent. This is the word of salvation, so you want to listen. For they that dwelt in Jerusalem and are rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they private that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead. It's the same story anyway. But he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are as witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, for that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, the children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that you raised him up from the dead, thou know more to return to corruption, he said, On this wise I give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after that he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell and shrieked, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. That's the message. How do you get this forgiveness of sins? How do you get this remission of sins? By cringing at the feet of a foolish priest. Never! You get remission of sins when you listen to the old-fashioned message that the Lord gave them to proclaim, and when you believe in the Christ that proclaimed. And when you turn your back on the message, I have the authority to say you're going out in your sin. And I'm not afraid to say it to you. The men that trust the Savior get saved. And the men that go out turning their back on the Christ that God sent are not saved. It's a message they have. Watch again. We'll go back to Acts 8 now. You'll notice I dealt with one to the Jews, and one to the Gentiles. Now here we're back at Samaria. And there was a certain man in Samaria. He was a sorcerer. And he saw many things happening. Look at verse 18. He's called Simon. I'm only trying to save time. You can read the whole story for yourself. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, and remember they were apostles that laid their hands on, and we haven't got any tonight. He offered them money, saying, Give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. And Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God made the purchase with money. Thou hast need a partner not in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. Why didn't Peter use his prerogatives if he ever had any? But he didn't, because he never had any. If he's so anxious for this fellow to get forgiveness, and he's got the power, why doesn't he do it? I tell you, you can go right through the book, and you'll never once find a servant of God exercising this popish, pagan, babble-roomy, cursed, damnable thing. You'll find that the men of God preach the message unto people that believe God forgives them. Unto people that didn't, they die in their sin. Be very careful. There is no trouble with the text. I can go on, you know, forever so long. Let's have a go at another one. Here's Ephesians. And we're at the first chapter, talking about our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is writing about Christ. And in verse 7 he says, In whom chapter 1 verse 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace. Where did they get this forgiveness of sin? In Christ. In whom? Or as the Greek would allow you, through whom? Or it would even allow you by whom? You get forgiveness of sins in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, and only Christ can forgive. Have you accepted Christ? No, I've taken nearly all the time. I think I'll keep the next scene for next week. I'm at half past nine. I mustn't overdo it. I want you to just keep your notes preserved. And we'll go on with the next scene next week. Now let's bow together. Choose loving Father. We come into thy holy presence and we come to thank thee tonight that our Lord Jesus Christ so satisfied the claims of thy divine holiness and every righteous demand of thy throne that thou didst bring him back again from the dead. We thank thee that we are perfectly sure that he rose again. And we believe tonight that that moment when Mary met him, oh, he stopped on his way to heaven to dry her tears. And when he had dried her tears and gave her joy in her heart, we believe that of the fresh fruits of this great resurrected multitude that shall come from the four quarters of the earth, he appeared before thy throne and was perfectly accepted of thee. We see him coming back to earth and entering into this room on this the first day of the week. Lord, we thank thee for thy presence with thy disciples. We thank thee for the peace that thou hast proclaimed over their heads. We thank thee for the commission that thou hast sent us, Lord, into this wonderful world to proclaim this wonderful message. Lord, we bless thee that thou hast given us power to proclaim it. And we know tonight that thou hast not taken thy prerogative and given it into the hands of a sinful man or even a religious man. It is still thine own prerogative. And only through thee is preached the forgiveness of sin. And only in thee and by thee is found the forgiveness of sin. And this preacher preached to the Gentiles and said that all the prophets give thee witness. Lord, we cry that sinners in this place tonight may repent and turn to thee and leave this place with the remission of sins. Lord, we were listening to thy gospel on Sunday and the old unalterable, impregnable, unchangeable eternal truth is without shedding of blood. There is no remission. Lord, because thou didst come and go to the cross and shed thy blood and defeat death and meet every requirement of God's throne, thou art a Savior tonight, and the man who accepts thee as his Savior will get forgiveness of sin. We thank thee for the message, and we thank thee for the power that accompanies it. Lord, bless thy saints, draw them near to thee by faith tonight to hold on to thy holy feet, even as thou art seated upon the throne. And, O God, for every preacher going into the world, give us new power to proclaim the old, old story. Part us in thy fear, and with thy blessing, for thy name's sake. Amen.