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Can I Be Coverted Today
Ian Paisley

Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (1926 - 2014). Northern Irish Presbyterian minister, politician, and founder of the Free Presbyterian Church, born in Armagh to a Baptist pastor. Converted at six, he trained at Belfast’s Reformed Presbyterian Theological College and was ordained in 1946, founding the Free Presbyterian Church in 1951, which grew to 100 congregations globally. Pastoring Martyrs Memorial Church in Belfast for over 60 years, he preached fiery sermons against Catholicism and compromise, drawing thousands. A leading voice in Ulster loyalism, he co-founded the Democratic Unionist Party in 1971, serving as MP and First Minister of Northern Ireland (2007-2008). Paisley authored books like The Soul of the Question (1967), and his sermons aired on radio across Europe. Married to Eileen Cassells in 1956, they had five children, including MP Ian Jr. His uncompromising Calvinism, inspired by Spurgeon, shaped evangelical fundamentalism, though his political rhetoric sparked controversy. Paisley’s call, “Stand for Christ where Christ stands,” defined his ministry. Despite later moderating, his legacy blends fervent faith with divisive politics, influencing Ulster’s religious and political landscape.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the unchangeable declaration that God can save sinners and bless those who minister the word for their salvation. The preacher refers to James 5:20, which states that those who convert sinners from their errors will save souls from death and cover a multitude of sins. The sermon highlights the need to conquer the results of sin and reflects on the number of seconds in a day that may be misspent in sin. The impeccable demonstration is presented as the conversion of sinners, which can completely and eternally change their ways. The preacher offers hope to sinners, emphasizing that through the grace of God, lost, blinded, dead, and bound souls can be saved and transformed.
Sermon Transcription
I take the promised Holy Ghost, the blessed power of Pentecost, to fill me to the uttermost. I take. Thank God He undertakes for me. And the people of God said, Amen. Be seated, please. I have a very important message to bring to you tonight. The question, can I be converted right now? Can I know without any shadow of a doubt that I am saved eternally from hell, and that I will most certainly, when I die, be welcomed in heaven? The answer of the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And gospel means good news. So the good news is simple and plain. It is an answer in the affirmative to the question, can I be converted right now? Yes, I can. Can I know without the shadow of a doubt that I am saved eternally from hell? Yes, I can. And can I know without the shadow of a doubt that I will most certainly, when I die, be welcomed in heaven? The answer is yes, I can. You can be converted right now. Yes, you can be saved eternally from hell right now. Yes, you can be sure without the tiniest shadow of doubt that you are saved eternally. Now, no word of man can give that assurance. No statement of man can give you that infallible assurance. No act of man can give you that knowledge. That knowledge is the secret of the Most High God. That assurance is the assurance of the God who cannot lie. Listen to these blessed words of the God of salvation. James chapter 5 and verse 20, He which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. He which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. That text is crammed full with the glory of saving grace and keeping power. It is not a supposition. It is a great declaration. It is not talking about a possibility. It is talking about a glorious actuality. It is not a theory. It is an almighty truth. It is no theory. It is irreversible fact. Let the gospel trumpet be sounded. Nay, let the whole gospel trumpet of the angels of heaven blow a fanfare and sound out the message, the sinner can be converted and can be converted right here, right now, right at this second. God is a God of salvation. It is the nature of God to seal and it is not the nature of God to damn. Salvation is a glorious work of God. Damnation is the strange work of God. The word of God tells me that God's judgment is a strange work of God. We read, And he shall be wrought as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his strange work, and bring to pass his strange act. Isaiah 28 and verse 21. This reference could not have been understood without reference to Joshua chapter 10 and verse 10, where we have a demonstration of God's powerful work of judgment. Of a day when God shook this earth, meaning a day that was longer than any other day that the world had ever witnessed. When God pushed the stones and rocks from the highest heaven and completely devastated the enemies who were fighting with Joshua. It was a strange work. It was a work of God's wrath. But let me say, as sin abounds, grace does much more abound. And as God is mighty with his strange work of judgment, he is more mighty with his blessed work of saving grace. There's not a man outside hell that God cannot see, and can see them as they come to him. I want to take this text, and there are five things I want to say about it. One, I want you to note the unchangeable declaration it means. This text tells me that God can save the sinner, and that the person who ministers the word for the salvation of the sinner will be a blessed person indeed. Turn over to the New Testament, to the last chapter of James, chapter 5. Listen to these words, verse 20, James, chapter 5. Let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his way. Here we have the unchangeable declaration. What is it? He which converted the sinner. Here is a sinner. He stands broken by sin. He stands condemned by sins that he has committed. He has not committed them once, nor twice, nor three times, but he has committed them over and over and over again. He has sinned grievously, and he has sinned constantly against the God of holiness, the God of truth, the God of grace. He has persisted in his wickedness. Remember, the breakers of God's law are indicted on all counts. He that is guilty of one law-breaking, the Bible says, is guilty of them all. He is a law-breaker in the eyes of the God of whom he must finally do business in judgment. No amounts of excuses, no amounts of argument, no amounts of excuses or lies will deceive God. Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. And all men and all women have been born in sin and shaped in iniquity. They are indicted. They have been tried. They have been found guilty. And if you are one of those indicted sinners, if you are one of those tried sinners, if you are one of those found guilty sinners, you can do nothing else but accept God's indictment and God's sentence. There is no self-made way whereby men and women who have sinned can escape the death that never dies. You are sinful. You are lost. You are without power. You are helpless. But I am a gospel preacher. I've got good news for you. And the news that I have got is good because the word gospel means good news. You sinner, with all your sin and all your wickedness and all your evil thoughts and all your vile living, you can be saved. Lost souls can be saved by the grace of God. And they can be saved now. Blinded souls can be enlightened. Dead souls can be brought back to life. Bound souls can, instead of being bound for hell, become bound for heaven. You can be converted right now by the free grace of God. Without money and without price, you can be converted. And let me repeat this first point under the heading, The Unchangeable Declaration. What is it? He which converted the sinner. The sinner can be converted. But secondly, we have the impeccable demonstration. What is it? Saved from the error of his way. Here is the impeccable demonstration. The error of sinners, it is known to all. It is known to them in the secret of their heart, in the depth of their conscience and in their mind. They know they have sinned. A sinner is recognized by his practicing of his sins. His errors are exposed to all who know him. But by conversion, the error of his way can be completely and totally and absolutely and eternally changed. In the days when we were sinners, the world saw that we were sinners. The dog had returned to its vomit and the sow to its wallowing in the mire. But the day that God saved our souls and converted us to Christ, the scene changed. The error of our ways were no longer our practice. As in unconverted times, our errors could not be hidden. Now in our converted times, our forsaking of error cannot be hidden. We have left the path for hell. We are walking the road to heaven. Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new. The old man has become a new man in Christ. Yes, what does the book say? He which converted the sinner from the error of his way. But it goes on and it brings to us the ineffaceable designation. What is that? He that converted from the error of his way shall save a soul from death. Shall save a soul from death. The results of sin must be conquered. I was reading this afternoon that in every day of our life there are 86,400 seconds. How many of the 86,400 seconds each day of your life, how many of them have been misspent in sin? Look at the record tonight. Look at the indictment tonight. In the 86,400 seconds, how many have I lived for God, for holiness, for truth, for prayer, for righteousness? How many have I lived for sin and wickedness and pride and evil and blasphemy and lasciviousness? Conversion is a wonderful thing. When God takes a person from the dunghill of his sin, cleanses him in the Savior's blood, changes his mind and his heart and his inmost soul, and puts away all wickedness by the power, the cleansing power of the blood. A soul saved from death. What shall a man give in exchange for a soul? That's the question that the Bible asks. You can see here three things. You see here the salvation. You see the soul. And you see the sentence. But thank God the soul can be saved. Thank God the salvation can be accomplished. And thank God the sentence can be squashed. But there's something more in this text. It says, and shall hide a multitude of sin. The untraceable disappearance of our sin, they cannot be found. Only God can do that miracle. God has justly told us they're eternally hidden, the forgiven sins of his people. They were once before him, but now they are behind him forever. Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back, says the writer of the scriptures. Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrews 10 and verse 17. Sins forgiven. Sins forgotten. Sins never again to be remembered. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part, but the whole, was kneeled to his cross. And I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Can you say that? Not in a cheap way, but out of the depths of a heart rejoicing in the Savior's love. But notice the beginning of my text. It says, let him know the infallible doctrine of sins forgiven. A man, a woman, a boy and girl can know. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. I was amazed this past week in my pastoral ministry to learn this lesson. That many, many men and women and many, many boys and girls, while they have received Christ as their Savior, have no full assurance of faith. They cannot say without a shadow of a doubt, I'm saved. My sins are gone. I'll never be held accountable for one of them. But, I've lost all my sins, for Jesus Christ carried them away forever. I believe that many of those people are genuine believers. But they have not come to the full assurance of faith. God wants his people to enjoy forgiveness of sins. He doesn't want the people to be looking again for their sins. In my earliest ministry, I had the friendship of W.P. Nicholson. And I remember going to an all-night prayer with him. And the all-nights of prayer at a Nicholson campaign were unique times of prayer. The little CWU hall over on the other side of the bridge was packed with men upon their knees. Mr. Nicholson sat in a chair in the middle, and we all knelt around to pray. There was a man who started to pray, and he started to recount all his sins. All his shortcomings. All the evil that he had done. And all the evil that he had planned. And I dared to move my hand so that I could see what the preacher was looking like. And his face was getting redder and redder like a beetroot. And I knew that the explosion was going to come. And suddenly, like a tornado, it came. And Mr. Nicholson shouted, Shut up! Sit down! Don't pray in this meeting. And then he stopped the meeting. And he said, The devil's here tonight. This man has given the devil full play. The devil should have been outside the meeting, but he was brought in. And the old sins that this man committed, and the Lord saved him from, God doesn't know what he's talking about. And here he has come here to talk over all that God has forgotten. Now he says, My man, you need to ask God to forgive you for the great sin you have committed tonight. And you need to seek the blood for the putting away of that sin. Reminding God of things that he has forgotten. And he says, We'll all sing. Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood. I never heard that hymn sung like it in my life. It carried us up to heaven. When we got down on our knees in heaven, Touched earth and glory, Crowned the mercy seat. And a break came in the mission, And many sinners were saved by the power of the blood of the Lamb. Let me say to you tonight, Never go back upon what God has done. God has saved you. He saved you. Rejoice in it. Rejoice in it. And if you're a person here, And you have lived in shadow land, And you have lived in the land of partly unbelief, And you have lived in the land of not knowing whether I'm a Christian or not, Put tonight your faith not in yourself, But in the infallible Word of the living God. And the infallible Word of the living God tells me That my sins that I have confessed Are washed away, hallelujah, In the precious blood of the Lamb. I do believe it. I am saved by the blood of the Lamb. My happy soul is free. The Lord has pardoned me. Hallelujah to His blessed name. And enter into the joy of the Lord. If you're in this meeting tonight, And you have never professed faith in Christ, Run to Calvary. Go and stand at the cross. Lift your eye and gaze upon the one Who there was put to death for you. Wash you, make you clean, Put away the evil of your doing. And find that perfect peace with God Through the Savior's blood. I picked up an old hymn book Tonight before I left home. And there was a hymn in it by the famous John Kent, The great hymn writer. And he wrote, Salvation by grace, How charming the song. With seraphim joined, The theme to prolong. It was planned by Jehovah In counsel above, Who to everlasting Shall rest in His love. This covenant of grace, All blessings secure. Believers rejoice, For all things are yours. And God from His purpose Shall never remove, But love thee, And bless thee, And rest in His love. But when, Like a sheep that strays from the fold, To Jesus thy Lord Thy love shall grow cold. Think not He'll reject thee, But rather reprove. Yet though He correct thee, He'll rest in His love. When sold under sin, A slave to thy lust, Deep sunk in the fall Of Adam the first, And often rebellion With God thou hast strove, Yet wonder, O heavens, He rests in His love. In Jesus the Lamb, The Father's delight, The saints without blame Appear in His sight. And while He in Jesus Their souls shall approve, So long as Jehovah Abides in His love. And the Lord God Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Spirit Abides in His own love. And because He does so, You can abide in the same life For everlasting to everlasting. If you're not saved, Cry out that He'll save you tonight. And if you are saved, Turn to Christ And rejoice in the fact That every sin had to go Neath the cleansing flow, And the burden of my heart Rolled away. Aren't you glad, dear child of God, That you're saved? Aren't you glad there's power In the precious blood? Aren't you glad your hope Is not upon yourself, But upon Christ, The unfeeling Lamb of God, Which has taken away our sins By dying for us on the cross? Amen. Lord, bless Thy Word. Write it on all our hearts. And grant that we may rejoice together In the saving power Of the precious blood of the Lamb. And everybody say, Amen.
Can I Be Coverted Today
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Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (1926 - 2014). Northern Irish Presbyterian minister, politician, and founder of the Free Presbyterian Church, born in Armagh to a Baptist pastor. Converted at six, he trained at Belfast’s Reformed Presbyterian Theological College and was ordained in 1946, founding the Free Presbyterian Church in 1951, which grew to 100 congregations globally. Pastoring Martyrs Memorial Church in Belfast for over 60 years, he preached fiery sermons against Catholicism and compromise, drawing thousands. A leading voice in Ulster loyalism, he co-founded the Democratic Unionist Party in 1971, serving as MP and First Minister of Northern Ireland (2007-2008). Paisley authored books like The Soul of the Question (1967), and his sermons aired on radio across Europe. Married to Eileen Cassells in 1956, they had five children, including MP Ian Jr. His uncompromising Calvinism, inspired by Spurgeon, shaped evangelical fundamentalism, though his political rhetoric sparked controversy. Paisley’s call, “Stand for Christ where Christ stands,” defined his ministry. Despite later moderating, his legacy blends fervent faith with divisive politics, influencing Ulster’s religious and political landscape.