This sermon reflects on the importance of staying true to the core message of the Gospel, emphasizing the need for personal surrender to God amidst the challenges and apostasy in the church. It highlights the significance of reading and studying the Bible diligently, exploring the depths of God's truth and message. The sermon also pays tribute to influential preachers like Jock Troop and James McKendrick, underscoring the impact of their teachings and characters in the ministry.

Last month I had the great privilege here of joining in conversation with a very good and dear friend of mine, Dr. Bob Jones, the Chancellor of Bob Jones University and the co-chairman with me of the World Congress of Fundamentalists. It is a great pleasure for me this evening and a privilege, and indeed I've been looking forward to this meeting for some time, to have a very informal, I trust humorous, and I trust beneficial conversation with my very old friend and dearly beloved brother in Christ, Willie Mullen. To me, he's Willie, and to Willie, I'm Ian, and we have been very close and dear brethren in Christ for a very long time. People don't understand that because Willie is some sort of a Baptist. I'm not sure what sort he is. I'm not referring to a merchant. I'm referring to the fact that he's a bit like Ishmael, every man's hands against him and his hands are against every man, but he still dwells in the midst of his brother. I'm a free Presbyterian. I'm a free Presbyterian, and I'm not described what sort of religious animal that is because I'm sure you're fairly sure of that by this time. We're going to talk, first of all, about contrasts. Both of us had the privilege of godly parenting, and Willie's going to tell us a little about the influence of his home, of his mother, of his old minister. He was a Presbyterian, so in a way he is a free Presbyterian, and we're going to ask Willie to come in now and just tell us a little about those days when God decreed in his inscrutable council that our dear brother should be born in a home in Newtonards, a home divinely foreordained for his birth. Thank you. Can I say, first of all, that it's a great pleasure and a privilege for me to be with you this evening. We've spent many hours in a quiet place just alone, ourselves, praying, and we look back at those days, and those were great days. You know, I was born into a little back street house in Newtonards, and there were 16 boys of us, one girl, 17 of us, and sometimes we would be six in a bed, the boys would sleep six in a bed, I don't suppose some of you know anything about this. It was all feet and faces. But one thing I will say very seriously just now. My old mother was a well-saved Presbyterian, and she was a godly woman. I look back now, and I can remember all the kids around her feet and her praying, and I can see her hands up towards the heavens and her face lined with cares, and how she would pray, and every night she would finish her prayer like this, Lord, save Willie one day, and make him a man of God. And you know, God answered her prayers. Just an old woman from a back street, Mother, you've got a lot of boys or girls, and they're almost out of control, get down on your knees, dear, and pray for them. And she used to sew at night on the oil lamp, and they would let her down on a chain, and I would sit at her feet, and I can remember this, remember times when she would stop sewing and look into my face and say, Willie, don't forget, son, that God loved you, and gave his son for you, and he died on Calvary and he rose again, and you'll have to make him yours one day. That's the sort of mother I am. With an old minister, he was a Presbyterian, but I look back, he was Tom McElrath, and some of the older ones maybe remember him. And he'd come into the house, and he would get down on his knees and pray, and then he would come to every child of the family and say, are you saved yet? Time you were saved, you know. And then I look back to my old school teacher, and she wasn't saved at all. But that religious instruction, how she taught the things that she didn't really experientially know, I don't know. But I listened to her. I remember things that she said. And then one day, in the Governor Hall, when I was having a big mission there, about ten people were saved one night, and last of all in through the door was my old school teacher. And I knelt together, she was way over seventy then, and I put my arm round her and she was on her knees crying, and I led her to the Savior. And I buried her too. I used to preach with Ian's dad at the Easter convention. Tell them something about your home. Well, I had the great privilege of being brought up in a Christian home. Willie was saying about a mother's prayers. I was just preparing a message for my daily tape on the home today, and I was saying on that tape that a mother's prayers, a mother's tears, a mother's love, and a mother's touch, only heaven can measure their value. It takes divinity, and divinity alone, to weigh up the value of those things that come from a godly mother. I had a godly mother. My first recollection of my mother was at the family altar, which was always held in our home each morning after breakfast, and we all prayed from our earliest days. My dad prayed, my mother prayed, Harl prayed, and then I prayed. And then we repeated the Lord's Prayer together. And it wouldn't matter if we were late for school. Family altar was always set up, and I always noticed something, that if we were late for school as boys, my father's prayer was longer, and I used to say, Harl, get up early and then we'll have a short prayer and make it. I was saved at the age of six in a meeting that my mother took in my dad's old church, Hill Street Baptist Church, a church linked with the great 1859 revival. John G. McVicker was the Reformed Presbyterian minister of Cullibacchia during the revival. He was an unconverted man, and one morning, preaching in his own pulpit, he was gloriously saved and told the congregation that God had saved him. You can measure the surprise of those people when their minister announced that that morning he had got converted. And John G. McVicker went into Bellarmina and started the Bellarmina Baptist Church. He didn't stay with the Baptists, he left them and joined the Brethren and built the Gospel Hall as well. So he was a wonderful man in many ways. I'm glad I have that link with the 1859 revival. I could take you to the pew, the second pew on the right-hand side, the left-hand side going in, of that old church where I knelt down and my mother pointed me to the Lord Jesus Christ. The text that she preached on that night in the children's meeting was that great text in John 10, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And thank God that night this stray lamb got into the fold. And that meeting thrills and fills me with joy continually. O happy day that fixed my choice on thee my Savior and my God. My father was a preacher in the Spurgeon succession. He had a picture of C. H. Spurgeon, the only one in Ireland, signed by the great preacher himself. I have it in my study. My Baptist brethren break the 10th commandment every time they see it, the covenant, but I have no notion of parting with it. I was brought up under old-fashioned gospel preaching. My dad was one of the old-time preachers of the word. There's few of them about today. That's why you need to pray that our brother Willie will get another lease of life. The Lord can renew his youth, and I trust that the Lord will renew his youth. We need preachers of the word today. So we both can thank God for godly parentage. But Willie, your conversion was later on in life. I got in when I was six. I'm 54 now. I don't look it. I only look like 25. I can't help that. And of course, you only look like 16, so that's right. But we would like to hear again, just briefly. Many of us know these facts and have rejoiced in them, but we would like to hear about the way the Lord triumphed in his grace in your life and led you to himself. Yes. Well, of course, I lived a rough life for a long time. For three and a half years, I slept out every night, and that meant spring and summer and autumn and winter. Many a day, I walked for miles and miles in the pouring rain until I was saddled and run down my back and out of my shoes. Then I would lie down in some woodland at night, and then our weather would change, turn to frost, and the old clothes would get frozen. And in the morning, I'd have to sort of ease the shirt off of my skin. These were terrible days. In fact, I was telling him just yesterday of one night a little fellow and I lay down together, 17 years of age, both of us, absolutely sappled with rain, and then the frost came. Oh, we were stiff with frost the next morning, and I turned around and I said, come on, it's time you were up. But he was dead. And I've got two scars on my lungs, and the old professor at home brings in this transparent picture that they took of my lungs, and he said, what are these scars, see? I said, I don't really know. He said, you know, they look as if you had been knifed at some time, both lungs. I said, I was never knifed. He said, then your lungs must have burst at some time, and I don't know how you're alive. And they're there yet, and if you took a transparent picture of them tonight, they'd be quite clearly seen. And two or three professors said to me, can you talk out loud? Can you speak out loud? What a joke it is. But you know, I got in with a gang of boys and did a lot of things I should never have done. And one day when I was out planning to break into a big place and take a lot of money, the Lord spoke to me. I'd been to just one gospel meeting. Old Dr. Tucker, who's the late Dr. Tucker, of course, of Templemore Hall, was preaching in the Baptist church in Newtonards, preaching from that great text, the great day of his wrath is come. And remember, old Tucker knew this sort of stuff outside in, and he was preaching about the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, calling on the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them. Hide them from the face of him that is on the throne, for the great day of his wrath is come. Mind you, that day is coming. And you know the kings of the earth, and the great men, supposed to be great men, and the chief captains, and all the mighty men, what a day it will be when they'll cry on the rocks and mountains to fall upon them. And old Tucker preached on this coming day of wrath for this world, and I thought he was mad. Just thought the old man was mad. And I want to say this for the preachers here, there's quite a lot of young preachers here. You know the old fellow preached for three long weeks in the Baptist church, and there wasn't a soul saved. And I know from talking to him afterwards that he went home and thought there was something wrong with the church, and got into a sort of bad mood, and had a sort of bitter spirit about it. And then afterwards he sort of changed and thought maybe there was something wrong with him. And then, you see, I went out of the meeting, thought the old man was mad, and some days later this thing came back. The old fellow had sown good seeds. And something challenged me as I stood alone. What about this day of wrath? And then I said there's no day of wrath. There's no God maybe. No heaven, no hell. And then it came like a flash. Look at the hills and the fields, and you can only see twenty miles of earth, but there are millions of miles of this planet you've never seen. Where did the planet come from? Where did all the other planets come from? And then I was stopped in my tracks and I knew that God was there. God had created the heavens and the earth, and there was a God to meet, and I was a poor sinner. And I just, I remember saying this. This is a quotation. I said, God, you're there, and I'm a sinner. And if you lift me and damn me in the deepest hell, it'll only be righteous judgment. And then something said, and it must have been the Spirit of God. What are you afraid of? Sure, God loves you. You know, I could scarcely get a hold of that, although my mother told me. Every unsaved friend here tonight. God loves you, you know. Amen. But God so loved you, that he gave his only begotten Son for you. And his Son came gladly, went to the cross and died. And what a song we heard tonight. I was telling young Edgar, I've never heard anything like it in my life. This finished work, the battle's over. Thank God. Oh, this is the sort of singing we want. And the work was finished. Amen. So perfectly finished, that Christ rose again the third day. And there is a living Savior. Amen. And I could take you to the place, you know, where I took off the old cap and screwed it into your open. Said, Lord Jesus, I'll give you my life today. And that's 46 or 47 years ago, you know. It's been well tried and tested. Amen. And the sweeter as the days go by. Amen. Now you tell us how you were called into this work of yours now after that conversion. Well, I never wanted to be a preacher for the simple reason that I saw what my father endured, especially from deacons. And I certainly... Baptist deacons. Baptist deacons, indeed. See, it's... C.H. Spurgeon used to say, resist the devil and he'll flee from you. But resist the deacons and they'll fly at you. And I saw that the man of God's task was very difficult. I saw that he had the rough end of the stick. And I certainly never desired to be a preacher. I finished in school and I was thinking of entering the Ministry of Agriculture. And I went to a friend of mine in the county of Turon. All the peasants came from Turon, from Six Mile Cross. And I learned to plow. The first furrow I plowed was like the hind end of a dog. It wasn't straight at all. But I learned to plow. I learned to sow. I learned to harrow. I learned to work with horses. And one day I was harrowing in corn in Franksland up the hill from Six Mile Cross. And God spoke to me. And he said, there's a better seed to sow and a better job than working in this soil. I want you to go and sow seeds for me. And I was like Moses. I wasn't going. I said, Lord, I don't want to do that. And the Lord said, it's none of your business. It's my business and you'll be going. So I said to the Lord, well, I'll put out a fleece. And I believe in putting out the fleece. And I said, give me a sign. And the boss I was working for, George Watson, who was a dear man of God, he said to me, you know, you should preach in the little hall in Six Mile Cross. And I said, why should I preach? Well, he said, there's not many people go. And if you didn't do too well, it will only be a few people who would see you. So he persuaded me. And I preached in that hall. It's been years now for our congregation. We're building a new church in Six Mile Cross. Wonderful how the Lord works. And I remember I preached upon the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and falling among thieves. And I thought I had a fair bit of material that I could do very well. But when I stood to my feet, there was eight people present. And when I stood to my feet, everything I prepared left me. And I managed to struggle for four minutes and then sat down. So there was an old man there called Bob Kyle, quite a character. And going out, Bob said to me, well, if your first ceremony lasted for four minutes, your last one could last for four hours. So don't be discouraged. And after that, I went to cut turf in the bog. It was turf cutting time. And the boss said to me, you should preach again. And I said, well, I'll try it again. And they couldn't get me stopped the second time. And I felt then that this was a sign for the Lord that I should go forward. I went to the South Wales Bible College and was very concerned while I was there whether I was really called. I got troubled. And I remember one day putting out the fleece and I said, Now, Lord, I want to be absolutely sure I'm called of God. And if I'm not called of God, I'm going home. And the Lord brought that text to my mind. And it just came like a flash. I believe it was the Spirit of God, follow me and I will make you fishers and men. And the devil said to me when that text, he said, oh, you just thought that. You just wanted to think that. So I said, Lord, if this text is from you, I want a definite sign today that it's from you. I went down to the breakfast table and we always read the Geneva Scripture notes. The Geneva Bible College was linked to the South Wales Bible College. And that day the portion of Scripture was, follow me and I will make you fishers and men. And then the devil said to me, that's a coincidence. Don't believe it. And I said, Lord, I believe it, but you seal it. And we went into the lecture hall and we had a hymn book that's not used anywhere else in the British Isles because it was a translation of French hymns from the Geneva Bible College. And the principal gave out the hymn, boats and nets they left behind them. These fishermen by the Galilean lake. And I've never doubted my call from that day. And thank God, by his grace I have followed him and I have been fishing. And sometimes the nets have nearly broke as the fishers came in. Last Lord's Day, we had a wonderful break in our church. Many souls see it, but those one police officer see it. And he went home and he testified to his brother. And his brother went down to our minister in the town where they live and he got saved. And the both of them worked on their other brother. And I just got word last night that their other brother got saved. And that is something to praise God for. So that's how I was called to be a preacher of the word. And I'm still following and I'm still fishing. That's good. Yes. It's a great thing that he didn't become the minister of agriculture. Willie, how were you called yourself? Yes. Well, you see, I got gloriously saved. And then I joined this little Baptist church in Newton Arts. That's where I'd heard the gospel and that's where I was attracted to. I was only about six months a member there. I was happy. I wasn't drinking. And I enjoyed the Lord and I walked with the Lord and talked to him. And then they announced they were having a church meeting. Now, I didn't know anything about church meetings. Just as well. Yes. I know a lot more now. Ignorance is blessed as glory to my wife. I said to Mrs. Dorrie Gunning, who's out on the mission field now. She was a girl in the church then. What about this church meeting? What do you do at it? Oh, she said, they just tell you all that's gone on in the year. And we have tea and singing. It's wonderful. You ought to come along. But you see, this is how this went. The secretary got up to read all that he had to read. And in the midst of it, another fellow at the bank got up to rebuke him. In two ticks, the coats were off. And it was like the Battle of Armageddon. Now, I know the Frees don't know anything about this, so I have to... But boy, it got so rough. They were tramping over seats and everything. I got up in the midst of this and walked out. And I don't know what would have happened to me, but an old saint in the meeting saw me getting out and came after me. An old man called John Cousins. A real old-fashioned, godless, saintly believer. He caught up with me in the dark in the street and put his armor on me. He said, you're annoyed. I said, I didn't think Christians did this sort of thing. He said, you know, it's been brewing for a long time, and you don't know anything about it. And there's going to be a break-up there tonight. And a lot of us feel we've got to get out and we've got to go to another place to have meetings if we're going to follow the law. And you're welcome to come if you want to come. I said, I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't know why this should be going on, but I have faith in you. I think you're a man of God. I'll come with you on Sunday morning if you let me come. So I went to this new meeting, and there were about 40 members there. And old John was the preacher, and boy, he was some preacher. This old man preached morning after morning to these saints, and he was great. And then after about six weeks, he put his arm around me one day and he said, I want you to help me next Sunday morning. I'd never preached in my life, you know. I had no notion of preaching. I'm just glad I was saved. Amen. I was heading for the Ministry of Agriculture, too. Look what Ulster met. And I said to him, I said, you know, I couldn't do it, and I don't want to do it. It's got nothing to do with me. You boys go on ahead and do it. He said, well, promise me this. As you read your Bible this week, if God speaks to you and lets you see something, you come along and say it on Sunday morning, and I'll fill in the rest behind you. And I promised the old man, and as I read that week, I was reading in the 37th Psalm, and this is what I read. Trust in the Lord. Delight thyself also in the Lord. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Rest in the Lord. Wait on the Lord. And as I stared at the book, I could see these are steps for a believer. I was to go through each day trusting in the Lord, and delighting myself in the Lord, and resting in the Lord, and committing my way unto the Lord, and waiting on the Lord. And I felt the Lord was talking to me, and I wasn't very sure how I would get on with it. And he met me on the Friday, he said, how are you getting on? I said, I'm frightened because I have little things to say. He said, you're coming to say it on Sunday morning. Don't count the minutes or anything, because you might stop short, and I'll fill in the bit behind you. And I just got up to tell the folks on Sunday morning the way the Lord wanted me to walk each day. I was just to trust him. I was just to delight myself in him. I was just to commit my way unto him. I was just to rest in him. I was just to wait on him. And I did so well that I almost took up all the time. I've done that more than once since too. But you know, thank God for this. Although God blessed me, I didn't really know, you know. I just said what I felt the Lord had put into my heart, but I had done better than I thought, and that's the way the Lord was keeping me. And old John said to me, you'll do the same next Sunday. I said, well, it'll have to be good now if the Lord doesn't come and talk to me. But the Lord began to talk to me. And then he took me out on Sunday evenings. And I was learning, you know. I was quick to learn. This old fellow was one of the best gospel preachers in the land, and I didn't know that. And it didn't make a matter where he read from. He could read from Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel. He would always finish at the cross. He would get round to the cross. And we were coming home on our bicycles. Did you ride a bicycle? Yes. Did you ride a bicycle? I heard that I did. Yes. I heard you riding after you were on well, and the doctor nearly fell off the mower bicycle. And we were coming home on the bicycles, and I said to him, Mr. Cousins, I have watched you, and wherever you read from or wherever you start to preach from, in no time at all you're at the cross. And this is what he said to me. I'll get to the cross every night by fair means or foul. And you know the old fellow meant to preach the cross every night. Amen. And taught me how to do it. Yes. And then you see, I was going round the country preaching the cross and teaching the saints how to walk. And old Beersford Lyons, do you remember him? Yes, you do. He was a godly soul. And he meets me coming up the footpath, and he said, Willie, you know, we're glad that you're saved, and we're hearing about your preaching. And you'll come to the Methodist Church and you'll have a mission. I said, you must be mad. I shall go, can I go on and do this? Yes. And you see, he talked me into it. Going into the big Methodist Church, all the fashionable folk were there, you know. And when I went to have this mission, the whole town came to this mission. It was packed every night. Amen. And you see, I had no messages. It wasn't like, you know, the other thousand messages in the bar where you could dip in and take. I had no messages. And each day I was working in Dixon's, digging roses. And I could dig more roses than all the rest of them put together because I was just digging and talking to the Lord and I never felt tired or anything else. I said, Lord, you'll have to give me this, this mission, this message for tonight. And all day long I was digging and waiting. And then, you know, the Lord would come with a phrase into my mind. And I can remember this particular day and the phrase was, Then cometh the devil and taketh away the seed, lest they should believe and be saved. And I could see this as clear, that the old devil was afraid that men and women would believe because they would be saved. He knew they would be saved. A whole lot of folks don't believe they would be saved if they really trusted. But the devil believed. Now I worked this out as I was digging, turning it over, no time to write out notes or anything, just talking to the Lord and digging away. And old Dixon was getting more work out of me than he was getting out of all the men. But you see, Sam Maclean, of very hallowed memories, he's in heaven tonight, he was the chorus leader in those days. And can I confess that sometimes I got fed up with him and of course it's the same as I get fed up with Campbell. And you see, he would keep it going and keep it going. And I suppose it was great, you know, but it was just me, it was just me. And I would almost pray, shut up. I was one not to sing. But you see, this night I had this message and I was bursting to give the message and here he was at this old chorus again, it was the finishing chorus and he would sing it about 50 times, you know. And I opened the book. Take note. Thank Thee Lord. And I opened the book, but could I find the text? I had the message all right, but where was the text? This, you know, I was just a young fellow, this was long years before I scared our brother to read the Bible, you know, this was long years before that. And here I was, you know, sitting in the pulpit and I I couldn't find the text, I went through it all. I thought it was there and I didn't get it. And I said to McLean, sing it again. But the Lord, the Lord called me. Well, Beersford Lyons was a godly man. He was. One of the old timers. I preached in Zion Methodist Church for Beersford Lyons, that was the place that is along the end of the street at Nard's. He was a man of God. As I said, I'll say it seriously, not many of these old men left. Man that had strength and courage and stood for the old-time religion. The first time we met, Willie, I think was in a place that must have many pages in the Lamb's Book of Life filled with its name. The old coalman's mission. Yes. Down on the quay. Yes, that's right. That was some 26 odd years ago. It was indeed. Who would have thought what Ulster was going to see in those 26 years. Two outstanding characters, you knew them well, Sammy Spence and Pa Stuart. Yes. And what characters they're wearing. What characters they're wearing. I know no man whom I ever met could make a gospel appeal like Pa Stuart. Yes. He knew how to draw in the net. Yes. And all sorts were saved. All sorts were saved, yes. And that old coalman's mission. I think you had a unique case of conversion there. Yes, one night I was preaching there and in the middle of the message a man stood up in a seat and shouted. He says, I'm not sitting down to get saved. Amen. And I led him to the Lord as he stood there. Yes. And he turned out to be a university student from the university, from Queen's University. Yes. But God had moved him so much. Amen. And it was a real mighty outburst of God moving and somebody crying, what must I do to be saved? But Sammy Spence and I went to preach at Glen Weary. Yes. I think that's in your constituency, isn't it? In my Westminster constituency. Yes, yes, that's right. You're a constituency of mine for Europe. Never forget that. Yes, that's right. And we went to this Glen Weary place and Sammy Spence preached, I shall never forget this, about the man being carried in and let down at the feet of the Lord Jesus. And then the Lord giving him new life and telling him to take up his bed and walk. And he preached like this. He said he came in with his head on the bed and he went out with the bed on his head. That's what you call, that's what you call cool man theology. That's right. That's right. And every one of them sang. They had a choir. Yes, they did. When I went to the Ravenhead Road 34 odd years ago, I had 360 seats and I had 60 people so I had to get somebody to fill the seats. So I went from door to door and I remember going down to Moore Street and I knocked at this door and a woman came out from next door and she says, you'll never get in there. And I said, why? Yeah, she said, that's the worst man in the world lives in there. I said, what makes you say that? She says, well you know, he would have been in prison for murdering his wife because one night his wife was very ill and he came home drunk and we heard the screams and in the morning his wife was dead. But no one could prove that he was responsible for her death. And she says, no one gets to see him. He goes out at night. He sleeps all day and no one ever sees him. So I decided that if he slept all day I would waken him. So I went down one day with the purpose of either driving in the door of getting him awake. So eventually he came to the door. His mouth was as filthy as a sewer and he cursed me high up and low down. But I had got used to visiting. The first time I visited the people slammed the door in my face. So when I got a door open I put my foot in. And then they could never get the door closed again. So I walked in and he said, you have no right to come in here. And I said, I have a right. I've come in to talk to you. I went into the hovel at the back of the place. There's a lot of old boxes. And I sat down with him and I said what your mother said to you. That God loves you. And that man says nobody loves me. He said I'm a wicked, vile man. He says I might have been behind bars for my wife's death but nobody could prove it. And he says I'm a drunkard and a filthy sinner and no one cares for me. And I visited that man regularly and one day at one of those old wooden boxes that man got gloriously saved and came through for the Lord and went to the coalmen's. And one night I was down in our White Abbey church and the coalmen's choir were all there. And on the front of the choir there was that man. So I walked up to him and said, when did you join the choir? He says the day I knelt at the old box and God gave me a new song and my heart was wonderful. Those were great times. The coalmen's mission I think was put there just for that time. Yes, just for that time, yes. It had a life. Yes, it had. And then its life came to an end. And the work seemed to have been built around Sammy Spence and Pastor. Yes, that's right. And when they went it seemed all to go. Maybe we could come a little farther and I'm sure it would be very helpful especially for the preachers that are here and the younger preachers for you to tell us about your plan of Bible reading and the study of the word of God. Yes. Well you see, I see this word preach and I see it very clearly. And the Lord Jesus saying to his disciples go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. And I sort of put a mark under that. Because gospel preaching is a very special thing. It's not just getting up and giving out headings or putting in the time or doing this, that or the other. It's preaching this good news. It's God's good news because it's God's gospel. Yes. And it's God's gospel about his son. But then when I began to study this, you know one day I was sitting on the couch and I was reading in 2 Corinthians 4 the God of this world. And I just stopped and said that's the devil. Then it went on, the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. And I said that's what the devil does. God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not and the next word is lest. And I said is there something the devil is afraid of? And I went on with the text. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine in. I said Lord this is what he's afraid of. Now I've got to learn every item of declaring this glorious gospel. Then I found out that Paul said Christ sent me not to baptize. That wasn't the principal thing. Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words. My how we love eloquence and oratory and it's fine and all the rest of it. But if that's what you're depending on I'm afraid you're up the wrong street. Because I'm not to preach the gospel with wisdom of words. Lest the cross of Christ should become of none effect. See all you young preachers let me tell you this. If you're going out preaching the gospel then the center of this message must be the cross of Christ. And if you don't get around to the cross you've been given your gun. But there's a bit more to it. It's not only preaching the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. I want you to get the hold of this. That I don't think that any one of us will be of any use at this preaching the gospel unless we're constantly being filled personally with the Holy Ghost. Amen. Mind you this is a tremendous challenge to all of us. And Ian and I know all about this. Because both of us are big enough to start the message in the spirit and end it in the flesh. You could get so carried away with something that you would end it end it in the flesh and you'd have missed the job altogether. But you see I see in this book not only preach the gospel but I see preach the word. And this is the message for the believer. This is expanding the whole passage. You see you can take a text and every one of us know this that you could make it a pretext for almost anything. But if you take the whole passage and expand it. And this is where my Bible class grew to its great heights. Because night after night year after year for 27 years it was taking the chapter and expanding it phrase by phrase just giving the sense. And this was preaching the word now. And you see that quite clearly. Well you can't preach the word except you know the word. That's where the time comes into him. Yes. And I find that today that God's people don't read the Bible. And I would certainly commend to everyone here Robert Murray McShane's plan of reading the Bible. I have been using that plan for many many years now. It's at the back of many of the Bibles. I think it's at the back of that Bible. Yes. It's very simple. You read four chapters each day. And in one year you have read the whole Bible through. You have read the New Testament twice and the book of Psalms twice. So I always have a new Bible at the beginning of each year. And I always read it and mark it. And that's only reading the Bible. That's not studying the Bible. That's getting the word into you. That's reading. And it's interesting as you read it's reading the Bible that opens the word. The reading of the Bible will open the word to you. But then of course there's Bible studying. And I touched on very briefly, Willie but I think that it would be nice for you just to mention say studying the numbers of the Bible the types, the persons the books, the mountains and the animals. I'll always remember a sermon that Willie preaches on the donkey. I never forget that. I never forget that sermon. So perhaps you'd like to say a word just about that briefly. Because we have a lot to cover yet. Yes. Well, you see I see typical teaching in the book. There's no question at all about that. If you take the tabernacle or if you take the high priest garments the book that's out there this evening it's all typical. And then of course there's symbolical teaching. We take the bread and wine and it's it's symbolical. And then of course I see devotional preaching. Yes. Where you just get taken up with the Lord and the glories and beauties and wonders. Then there's metaphorical teaching. This is where I was at when we were talking about the arse. It was taking an animal metaphor. And when the Lord sent out the two disciples he told them to go into the village over against them after which if you're entering in you shall find a coat tied. It was the coat of an arse. If anybody says, why do you loose the arse just say that the Lord hath need of him. Yes. But when you get down to this metaphor of the arse you'll find that way back in the book of Exodus that God talks to Moses that the firstling of an arse must be redeemed by the blood of the lamb or else its neck must be broken. So the two things tear out of that it's either redeemed by the blood of the lamb or it's destroyed by the word of the law. And this coat that our Lord was finding and is going to ride into Jerusalem on when you go back to Zechariah you find that it was the firstling there's a little word back there that proves it's the firstling so that as it stood at the corner of the street it was redeemed but it was tied. And let me say to all the redeemed if you're tied by any sort of thing or this or that or the other you're no use to the Lord. See I was telling Ian tonight he's just a free Presbyterian but I'm free, I'm free, I'm free I'm free, I'm free whatever he said gloriously free he was singing to me what were you singing? You were singing something to me. Amen. Glorious freedom. Yeah, that was good fun. But you see the ass must be free not to be tied. You see I've never been able to be tied since the Lord met me. I've just got one Lord. This is very clear to me. I've just to please one Lord. There's no Baptist council or any other council or man or brethren or this or that or the other they don't compose a Lord for me. I've just got one Lord. And you see this animal had to be set free loosened. And then you see this was an ass and no man's leg had ever been over his back where on never man sat. And I'll tell you this if you ever see a donkey and nobody's ever been on his back don't you get on first. You see he was rare in the country and he knows. I could tell you some story. You would be the ass if you'd been on his back. And you see the moment the Lord put his leg over his back it became absolutely submissive. Amen. And every bone and muscle and sinew and every drop of blood and every ounce of strength was given then to uphold the Lord. And this sort of teaching is very wonderful because that's metaphorical. And there are so many lines of truth and the young fellows need to learn the lines. And unless they learn... Old Ironside was very good to me. And this is something I never forgot. You see one day he just said to me Do you know the difference between God's truth and God's message? I was always honest with him. And I said no sir I don't see any difference at all in God's truth and God's message. He said well if I came to your meeting next Sunday morning and I preached on the Lord's return would that be the Lord's truth? I said it would be the Lord's truth for the Lord is coming back again. He said would it be the Lord's message for that meeting? And I said sir it might not be the Lord's message for that meeting. Then he said if you see that clearly then there's a difference between the Lord's truth and the Lord's message. And he said you know if you're going to minister to the needs of the people to comfort them and edify them and exalt them you'll have to wait very carefully to find God's message. And the moment you find God's message Willie and you get it all placed out carefully from every part of the Bible and present it clearly then you'll find that God's message is God's truth. God's truth is not always God's message but God's message is always God's truth. And that's a great thing Ian. Isn't it? It's a great thought. Yes it is indeed. And that has helped me all down through the years. And I would live week after week just with my mind sort of tuned into heaven Lord what are you going to say to this people next Sunday morning? Sometimes a wee fellow would pray in the prayer meeting and there would be a phrase there and that's it. Got the hold of it. Or someday I would hear somebody singing or I would get it from somewhere or I would be reading and out it would come. Then I've got to get it all out from every part of the Bible and present it clearly. And old Ironside said to me this and when you get it he nearly hit you when he talked to you. When you get it don't be clever with it now. Just be clear. That's all that's required. Wasn't it great? Great altogether. But of course that sort of message and teaching will only come after there is clear digging. This is very true Ian. Yes. I've been preaching a series of messages and a thought that the Lord gave me some time ago that I never noticed before. Things that people brought to the cross. Yes. Very interesting stuff. Yes. There was a man brought a sponge and a reed Yes. and a bottle of sour vinegar to the cross. All of the distinct meanings but one thing that struck me was the garments. And I have preached often in the garments but one thing that struck me was that the Palestinian peasant wore five garments. They divided to each a part, four parts and then there was one over. And the outward dress of the peasant in Palestine the things that the people saw when they looked at the Lord the garments that they saw were four. And what we see of Christ today Christ is revealed to the world in the Gospels. There are four Gospels. Yes. You have the girdle which of course is the badge of office. You remember that Jonathan gave to David his girdle. Yes. And of course the Mafia is the Gospel of Christ the King. You have the office, the badge of office. Then you have the sandals and of course Mark is the Gospel of the servant. It's filled with straightways and immediately. Yes. The Lord is busy as the Lord's servant. And then of course the robe, the outward robe the Gospel of Luke which is the Gospel of the Savior. That was the robe that touched. That was the robe with the hem and when they touched it they were healed. And then of course the headdress that brings us to the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you that also was in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God. John's Gospel is the Gospel of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when those garments were all taken off he appeared in the vestment and that was the priestly vestment worn next to the flesh by the peasant but worn over the ribbon by the priest. It was the outside garment of the priest. It's like carrying coats in Newcastle to tell you that. But that was the last garment the Lord appeared in when he stood at Calvary before the strictum of that garment he appeared as the priest of his people. And thank God he finished the work. So when you meet the parish priest down the street tell him to go to Corporation Street. He's on the dole. He's redundant. Nothing left for him to do. Praise God it's all done. You can see how rich the book is whenever you start to get to it. That's right. Spurgeon said his trouble was not selecting a text. His trouble was that he was embarrassed with the riches of God's word to know what ripe pear or orange to pluck. I think that we should turn for a moment to preachers that we have known and met. I'd like to talk about some of these. Perhaps we might come to a great preacher. I would say one of the greatest open air preachers that I have ever met our old friend, beloved Jock Troop. On what a character Jock Troop was. I think that the people that didn't know him should remember that you never met Jock Troop but he had a box of chocolates in his hand. He was a chocolate eater. In fact I think he died of arsenic poisoning. He ate so much chocolate. I'm not joking but he was a terrible eater. You know that. And he used to tell you well I've got the victory I'm not eating any more chocolates. The next day he would have a 2 pound box in his hand. And he said the Lord let me backslide brother. I'm enjoying these chocolates. The first time I met him I went to the 10th hall oh 30 something years ago to preach. Just a young raw fella. And I was staying in a little hotel. Yes, near Holland. And I heard these feet coming up the stairs and I was lying in bed reading the Bible and this big man came into the room. He said to me are you Willie Mullen? I said that's right. He says I'm Jock Troop. He says how much money have you? And I thought he was a sponger you see. I had no money anyway. He says how much money have you? I said look I don't have any money. Well he said you'll not belong until you have money. And he brings out a whole wad of notes and peels them off and puts them on the pillow. That was the first I saw of him. But he was a great soul. And he loved all the young preachers. And he was preaching at Finlay's Tabernacle. You know what Finlay's Tabernacle is? And I was preaching at the 10th hall. I was just a young fella. He was an old warrior. But I was getting 1200 every night and he was getting about 24 people and Finlay's Tabernacle was empty. So he'd meet me every morning down in the little cake shop we made up to meet there. And he'd come down the stairs and he'd get up and say Oh well the Lord had only 12 I had 24 last night. But the greatest thing that I remember about him at least one of them was we were at Glasgow Green. And there were hundreds around. Great old open air preacher. Maybe the best open air preacher in the world for that matter. And he was thundering it off and a fella in the middle of the crowd started to really go for him. He was very wise. He says open up the ranks there. Push him in a bit there. He gets him right into the front you see. And he said what are you talking about? Sure you don't know anything about the Bible. Do you read the Bible? He says of course I read the Bible. Right through, yes right through. He says have you read anything on the Bible? Big commentaries or anything? He says I did. He says did you ever read Cosgrove's commentaries? Four big volumes. He says I read every word of them. He says let him out there for I don't know Cosgrove. He just demolished him in about two seconds. James McKendrick. The time was going so well. James McKendrick was a great gospel preacher. There's a little book called Important Truths that everybody should read. Even if you don't agree with all its theology it's good stuff. Willie, you had a great time with James McKendrick just after you were saved. Yes. Isn't that right? James McKendrick helped me tremendously. The one thing he was impressing... We sat around one morning and he was talking about us being heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Then we broke up the Bible class and he and I were going down the street together. Did you know him? He had a white beard. He came down to here going down the street. He said to me you know if the folks really knew who we were going down here we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. They would all take off their hats as they passed by. He's an old fellow that really he was a great old character. One thing that we mustn't miss from this program is the day a free Presbyterian brought water to you. We must forget that. We must not forget that. Because I've got into serious trouble through your life story. Just let me handle this. You see I built a Bible school of my own. I had a lot of people there. And one thing we couldn't find was water. But you see we got Ian. And he's a water diviner and this is true. Oh we had some trouble under this. And he gets an old hazel stick and goes over the ground. And when it comes to a place it nearly turns the arms off you. And he says it's here Willie. It's here. It's here. We had a doctor with us and the doctor didn't believe this. The doctor says it's all gluff. He just turns his head. But Ian said to him all right you hold the stick. And the doctor's holding the stick and Ian put his hands over the doctor's hands. And they walk along. And when they come to the spot the doctor tries to hold the stick and it took the whole skin off the middle of his hand. But the bit you see that I want to talk about is that I've got more letters for the idolatry of Ian Campbell coming and divining water on our premises. Well I think you must think the Baptists were hard up when they had to send for a free Presbyterian to get them water. I think they were pretty hard up. The concern Willie that we both have to stop on a very solemn note the concern that we both have at the deterioration in the church in the age in which we live. Yes. Over these past years of your preaching and over my past years I've seen the declines Yes well I believe Ian with all my heart and soul that we're in the Laodicean period of church history. I believe that the church has sort of crossed Christ to the side. And you know they're beginning to sort of boast about what they have. They're rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. And the Lord comes along and this is what he says. The Lord said and I know it's not that I'm poor and blind and miserable and wretched and naked but I'm still here. And this is the bit that I believe Ian I think believes with me in this. This is the bit I believe. Behold I stand at the door and knock. Talking to the whole church that was pressed about. But this is the bit he said. If any man I believe we have come to the day and hour where it's individuals the Lord's looking for. And he wants you and you and you and you. And we boast and fiddle so much with our denominational tags. And the Lord wants you. He says if any man just open the door let me have your life. And I'll tell you when you give the Lord your life you get into trouble. And you're never out of it. And I believe we're in that age Ian. Yes. Well I think that the darkening clouds of apostasy are on the church worldwide. And the sad thing that I see as I go around our own country and also in other countries that those great meeting places that were once alive for God and righteousness where there was a great soul winning work going on. You can write Ichabod over them. The glory has departed. There's no prayer. The services are caught up with formality. The charismatic itch has captivated many of them. And we're in a sad and sorry time. But could we just say this. The Lord is coming. Yes. It must be the breaking of the day. And praise God you and me are going higher someday. Yes. God bless you Willie. God bless you Ian. Thank you.