This sermon emphasizes the importance of shining the light of Jesus in a world filled with darkness and sin. It calls for believers to walk as Christ walked, showing love and charity to others. The message highlights the need for genuine love that leads to action, not just words, in sharing the Gospel and impacting lives for Christ.

Hello, I'm going to quickly pray, open up my prayer. Could we bow our heads? Lord, I thank you for these people before me, Lord, and I thank you for the privilege I've had to speak to them, Lord. The house of the Word that has gone forth already this week could not leave their hearts, Lord, but they will grow, Lord. Lord, let it become fruitful, Lord, in a mighty way. Let these people before me become Christ-like, Lord. Let them walk as Christ walked. Me too, Lord. I look at the God who lies around me, Lord, and I think, how can I speak to them? Lord, I ask thee that thou would speak to them this day, Lord. You said in your Word, without me you can do nothing, and I know that, Lord. And I ask thee to do everything today as I speak to them, Lord. In Jesus' name, Lord, I ask this of the blood, the precious blood that was shed for sinners, shed for me and for them. In Jesus' name, Amen. I suppose a good place to start a sermon is in the beginning, so I'm going to start with Genesis 1, verse 1 to 4. You don't have to turn, there's going to be quite a few places. Genesis 1 says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And then comes these amazing words, And God said, Let there be light. And just like that, there was light. And God saw the light that was good. And we read in John chapter 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. This is Jesus. And the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And just like in the beginning of time, God said, Let there be light. And like that, light just suddenly appeared. So, when that little baby child, Jesus, came into the world, in the midst of the donkeys and the cows and the shepherds, that little baby was like a light that suddenly burst into a world of darkness and sin. I use the illustration. It's a bit like when you walk into a very, very dark room, and it's pitch dark, and you can't see a thing. And you just turn the light switch, and the whole room fills with light. So it was when Jesus came into the world. The light shined in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. But 1 John 2 verse 6 says, He that saith... These are staggering words. He that saith he abideth in Him, in Jesus, ought himself also so to walk even as Jesus walked. We ought to shine as Jesus shined. Matthew 5, I love Matthew 5. You know that famous portion from verse 13. It says, Ye are the salt of the earth, that the salt of lots is savour wherewith shall it be salted. It is thenceforth good for nothing. These are terrifying words. But to be cast out and to be trodden on the foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. Not Jesus. Jesus is in heaven and is in your heart. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set in a hill cannot be hid. Don't let Satan tell you it can. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. And I say, if you can imagine, if you can imagine a world in which the salt is lost as savour, in which Christians, you and me, people everywhere, started to hide their lights under a bushel. In that world, sin would become more and more. And more and more, people would start to blaspheme the name of God openly, without fear. Churches would become a place of entertainment. But you know, you don't have to imagine a place like that or a time like that or a world like that. All you have to do is look around you. We're living right in that world right now. A time when Christians everywhere are hiding their light under a bushel. The salt has lost its savour. There are two ways that I can see that you can shine Jesus in this world. You have the light. The one is you can walk Jesus and the other is you can talk Jesus. And obviously you can't talk about Jesus before you walk Jesus, or else you're a hypocrite. Let us examine first the first one, walk Jesus. 1 John 2 verse 6 says, as I've said, he that saith he abideth in him ought himself, this is a command, so to walk even as he, Jesus, walked. Not less, not more. When I was at school, the standard seven, I suppose that's your grade nine. Let's see, that was around about eight years ago. I stood up in my class and they gave me an opportunity to speak to the boys. They gave each boy opportunities to speak and I spoke about Christ. I told them of Jesus. I can't remember exactly what I said, but I know this. I don't think they'd ever heard it before and they were staggered. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He came to save us from our sins. And I remember walking from that class, seeing the boys staggered. God in his mercy did that. And I did a very stupid, foolish thing. I walked to the next class and I went into that class and I did a sin. I won't tell you what it was. It was a stupid thing. And a Catholic boy came to me and he said, Roy, and I said this was shame. He said, Roy, you said those things in that other class and now look what you're doing now. So I tried to undo what I did. But then the Catholic boy said something staggering. He said, no, don't worry. I'm glad you did it because now I didn't have to be convicted anymore. It's no use talking about Jesus if you don't walk Jesus. You'll just send people to hell. There was a man, my dad talks about him, the holiest man he ever knew, Will McFarlane. I used to sit on his knees. I remember one thing. His face shone. I can't remember much what he said, but I remember that his face shone. And one day, a person came, my dad uses the illustration, a person came from England, the son of John George Govan, a holy man. But this boy was backslidden. He did not choose the God of his father. He was in the world, in the darkness. He came to South Africa and he landed, they come by ship, he landed on the pier there and there came a man to meet him. It was Will McFarlane. And Will McFarlane did a staggering thing. He didn't, like most of us, give him tracks or say, you're going to hell or let me tell you about Jesus. He didn't tell him the gospel. He didn't have to. He was a walking representative of Jesus. All he did was he talked about normal stuff. And within a few minutes, that man, first he was angry, he thought this man must be sent by my father. Then he began to tremble. By the time he left that place without, I don't think one word had been spoken about Christ. He said, I'm going to seek God that a man can be so holy. Oh, it's so easy to preach Christ. So easy to shout out the words, God died for you. But how can you tell people, come to Christ, if you can't show them Christ in you. It's just words. God doesn't joke. God never jokes and he never lies. God said, be holy as I am holy. And he did not joke. That is the standard. He that saith, he abideth in him or himself, also so to walk, even as Jesus he walked. Could we turn to 1 Corinthians 13 verse 1. You all know the passage. Jesus walked the walk of love, of charity. And these are staggering words. I'm sure you've read them many times. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, which is a special type of love, I am become a sounding brass or as a tinkling cymbal. He goes on to say later, though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. I am nothing if I have not love. But this love, well, it's not giving money to the poor, because the Catholics do that all the time. It's not having a lot of zeal. Many unsaved people have a lot of zeal. This love is not the love that a father has for his son. It is not the love that you have, those of you who are married, for your wife. This love is the same love that Jesus Christ had on the cross. When as he was nailed to the cross with blood falling to the ground, he said these words, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. God says in John, John chapter 18, the same love that the father had for the son, he says he'll put that in you. The same love, that same love that God the Father has for Jesus, he will put in you. I can ask you, I can give an example of one of these people who had that love. You all have heard of John Wesley. John Wesley brought nearly the whole of England to God. He brought nearly the whole of England to God in a mighty revival that lasted over 50 years, I think. And he had love, he had charity. He didn't have the love that a mother has for his son. That's wonderful. But he had charity. Because when he came to towns, they knew that their bottle stores and evil places would close down as revival came down. And those shop owners and people of the towns didn't want it. So they came and they threw him over cliffs. And at one place they stoned him, and stoned him, and stoned him, and stoned him until they left him for dead lying in the stones with blood dripping from him. But you know what he did? So easy for us to go out and give out a few tracks. You know what he did? He didn't just, oh, I'll go to another place. Where they left him and they thought he was dead, he picked himself up with the blood dripping and he crawled to that town. He said to them, with love, with charity, come to Jesus. And God brought those people, starting with the people who stoned him, to their knees. And they found Jesus. And let me ask you a very hard question. Do you have this love? Or is your love only the type of love that will give out a few tracks for a few souls? Now and then. On Corinthians 13, verse 1, it says, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am becoming a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. John Hyde was another person who had this love. Once in a train, he was speaking to a little boy. And this little boy, he was telling him about Christ. He said, Oh, come to Jesus. And the boy looked up in his face and he said, he was very cheeky, I want to tell you all he said. He said, So many people have told me about Jesus. I suppose, you know, people gave him tracts or something or told him about Jesus. He said, It's rubbish, I'm going to my friends. But you know, John Hyde didn't stop there. He pleaded and he pleaded because he loved this child. And he pleaded and he pleaded. And then his tears ran down his face. Even though this was a boy he'd never met before in his life. And the boy said, I'm leaving. And he went to another room. The train left. John Hyde stayed in that station. But the next day, I think, a train came back. And on it was the little boy. He stepped out. And someone, someone asked him, Why have you come back? He said, I could not forget his tears. And you know something? Beforehand, many people had told that boy about Christ. But this was the very first person, ever, who loved that boy so much that he cried over him. Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love, even if I shout from the rooftops, come to Jesus, I am nothing. Well, there's two ways to shine Jesus. The one is to walk Jesus. And the other is to talk Jesus. Obviously, you can't talk about Jesus if you don't walk Jesus. Proverbs 11, verse 30, I think, says, He that winneth souls is wise. Very wise. And if we read in John 15, verse 2, it says, Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Me is Christ. Every branch in me, Christ, that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And there was a woman in South Africa, a very godly woman. She once said, I don't know where, You've got an apple. What is the fruit of an apple? She first asked, What is the fruit of a Christian? And everybody says, Fruit of the Spirit, love, peace, joy. I said, No, no, wait a minute. That's the fruit of the Spirit. What is the fruit of a Christian? People thought for a while. She took out a, mentioned an apple. She said, What is the fruit of an apple? It's more apples. Planted in the ground, it grows into a tree. Might be a bit wild. More apples grow. Now, I don't want to become doctrinal, but I don't want to be one of these, Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. In America, I happen to know, in our country, we've got basically the richest gold reserves in the world. But in America as well, there were these things called gold rushes. Terrifying things. You've got, someone finds gold, someone hears about it a thousand miles away, everybody just comes and tries to find gold and get rich quick. Let me ask you something. If you heard of gold in your backyard, if you heard there was ten thousand dollars, make it a million, buried one foot deep in your backyard, how many of you would go right off to the past tomorrow and take a shovel and dig it up as soon as possible? How much more important is the soul? I can guarantee you, I say this to people that if you offered me all the gold in Africa, or one prayer, just one prayer of a godly woman, I'd choose that one prayer. You know why? Because that one prayer might bring someone to Christ. I'd throw away that money, I don't want it. My granny, my granny is a very godly woman, she lives on a farm, she's married to what we call an Afrikaner. But last year, she almost died. She had cancer in the spine, and it got worse and worse, and eventually she went to hospital. And the doctor said she's going to die. The doctor said she's going to die. And it came to the point where we all expected her to die. But let me ask you a question, it's so easy, we all know we have charity, it's so easy to give out tracts in the street, it's so easy to shout, talk to people about Jesus, it's not that hard. But what will you be doing? Do you truly love people? What will you be doing when you die? My granny, as she was dying on her bed, all she could say is, Doctor, are you saved? Doctor, are you saved? Doctor, are you saved? Doctor. Though I speak with tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I have nothing. My granny didn't die. Miraculously she healed. But then they said to her, you're never going to walk again. Never. Sorry. And I was, I've got a prayer club, I told you about it. And she was on her bed, and I said to her, do you want to give me a prayer request? And you know something, even though her legs, she couldn't move them. She didn't say, I want my legs to be healed. I'll ask them to pray for that. She didn't mention that. She said, Roy, just one thing, that souls might be saved. That's all she said. I'm sorry. I know another godly woman, Miss Dobby of South Africa. If you want to meet Christ, come to South Africa and I'll show you Miss Dobby. Eighty-something years old, and the godliest woman I don't know if you can meet the godliest woman, but something funny happened to her one day, two years back I think. This godly woman was holding a pot of water, whole boiling water, and she fainted. And the water poured down her body. She woke up in pain, and they took her to a hospital, and she was in hospital for seven months. Oh, I love this woman. She's part of the prayer club. But you know, she didn't just, in this agony and pain, think, Oh, Lord, what are you doing to me? She just took it as another opportunity to win souls. And she was in this bath, this bath, in agony in this bath, as her burnt body was in this warm water. And there's this black woman in South Africa, had to wash her. And you know, she didn't say to her, Jesus Christ died on the cross, Jesus Christ, it's all wonderful stuff, and you must say it many times, but she didn't have to. She was Christ. She lived Christ. All she said to this woman was, as she was lying in the bath in pain, Do you know Christ? And the woman looked down and said, No. And the next day, she said the same, Do you know Christ? And the woman looked down and said, No. I think the next day she said again, Do you know Christ? And Miss Dobbie, the black woman, looked down and said, No. But then the next day something wonderful happened. She said, Do you know Christ? And the black woman said, Yes. Isn't Christ wonderful? It doesn't help preaching Jesus if you're trying to show them Jesus in your life. We all say, I long, I long, I long for the days of Dio Mudi when thousands of people came out and streamed to the front and got saved. But you know what I long for? I long for Dio Mudi who when they had to pay, you had to pay to get into a church in those days, son of the churches. He brought the drunks from the street and he paid for them to sit in the church. Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love, I am nothing. He left the president of America while they were walking down the street. He left the president. I long for these days of such a man to speak to a drunk on the floor about Christ. The president had to walk on. How precious to you are souls. But as most souls who walk past you wish you could go to that place and see why I was staggered. I was at the first mission station in South Africa. And on the wall as I was standing beside one of the godliest people you could ever meet, I saw on the wall faces, pictures of the missionaries at this first mission station in a row. And I could not believe my eyes. I saw about 50 Will McFarlanes. Their faces shining. I saw people with love in their eyes. And as I read the words underneath, tears came down my eyes as I remember reading these words. One by one, their seats were empty. One by one, they passed away. Here, the circle has been broken. Will it be complete someday? Can we turn to Psalm 12 verse 1? It wasn't just me who worries about the fact that there's less and less godly people in the world truly godly who are in love with charity. Who when they are stoned will get up and come back with love in their hearts and say, Come to Christ. Who when they are dying will say, Doctor, doctor, are you saved? It's in the Bible too in the old days. Help, Lord, for the godly man Caesar. For the faithful fail from among the children of men. Could we bow our heads? I'm going to make an appeal now. I don't have the right to make an appeal. But I'd like to ask those of you who know that they have not had charity as they ought, who have not loved the souls that are going to hell. I think of the star nearby, Lord. Most of them going to hell. I'd like those of you who would like to admit to God that you have not loved as you ought, that you're sending people to hell by your lack of charity. I'd like you to admit it to God today by raising your hand. Thank you. You can put your hands down. I felt led before this meeting just to ask those of you... Keep your head bowed, please. Those of you who are not saved, who don't know if they die now that they're going to heaven, who have never come to the blood of Jesus Christ, who were washed in the blood and know that if they die now they're going to heaven. I'd like you to raise your hand now if there's any of those like that. Okay. Those of you who raised your hand the first time, I'm going to pray for you now. I'd like you to say amen. I like that portion of the Bible where it says their cries went up to heaven and God heard them. Let's say amen together that God can know that we really are sorry that we have not had charity as we ought. Lord, I plead the blood. I can plead nothing else, Lord. And I ask Thy blood to do its perfect work in these people, Lord. Give them charity. Give them love, the souls. Lord, let them love as Christ loved on the cross where He said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Father, let them have such love that as they die they will be thinking of the doctor's soul. And, oh Lord, I ask You to do this work. Now to Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, Lord, I praise Your name. In Jesus' name, oh Father, amen.