In this sermon, the preacher begins by discussing the birth of Jesus and the significance of salvation. He emphasizes the importance of understanding and experiencing this salvation in one's life. The preacher also mentions the need to follow Jesus and take up one's cross. He briefly mentions personal experiences and illustrations related to business and finance. The sermon then transitions to discussing a story in the seventh chapter of the Bible, where Jesus is asked to go into another Simon's house.

I would like you to turn with me to the Gospel according to Luke. And dwell with me for an hour or so in this wonderful gospel concerning the great revelation therein that God has given us on the great truth and theme of salvation. You will probably know that this gospel is the one that uses this great word in the first chapter. And it is used by the old prophet Zechariah, actually. Verse 67, I'll show you. There was a priest, this man, and God came upon him in a prophetic statement. He was the father of John the Baptist. And you know the history of him, that he just hadn't believed what God said. And so he was stricken dumb. And then there came the day when God fulfilled the promise, and his mouth was opened, and all sorts of things happened. And this is where, this is the sort of thing he speaks. In verse 76, speaking to the baby John, who of course couldn't hear, couldn't understand. He must suppose he was asleep, like all good babies are, like the one was this morning. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest. For thou should go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And so John is sent forth on his mission. And right at the beginning, beloved, we're told what his mission was. Among other things, it was to give knowledge of salvation unto God's people by the remission of sins. And what a precious ministry this was. This is precisely what John did. And when he baptised in water, it was the baptism for the remission of sins. This was the baptism of John. And it was to let them know this wonderful thing, salvation from sin. What a glorious thing, remission of their sins. And immediately we're introduced to the great difference between the Old Testament and the New. For John, you will remember, was yet of the Old Testament, although he's spoken of in the New. He belonged to the Old Covenant people. And he was not quite the last of the Old Testament prophets, and certainly he wasn't the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, because Jesus Christ was. He combined the Old and the New. And that's a marvellous thing for us to understand. But in Matthew's Gospel, not that I want to go out of this Gospel of Luke, it is said about the Lord Jesus that when his name was given unto Mary and so on, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for, now you notice the distinction. It doesn't say he will remit their sins. It says he will save his people from their sins. Not from the penalty of your sins. Now you can get salvation from the penalty of sins by having all your sins remitted, you see. But when he said save them from their sins, it saved them from committing them, so that they don't do them, they won't have to be remitted then. Here is the vital difference between the Old and the New Testament on this line. A tremendous thing for us to understand. And throughout this Gospel, this Luke's Gospel, we're going to see something of the wonder of this truth as it unfolds. And so John goes forth, but he doesn't go forth really, although it's recorded here, chapters 2 and 3 take place before the Lord starts out in the fourth chapter. So let's go into the second chapter. And in the second chapter, this is what we find. In the days when the angels came over the plain, when shepherds in verse 8 were watching their flocks over them by night, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. What a precious, precious thing this is, beloved. Unto us is born a Saviour. You see? Not just a prophet who's going to give us knowledge of salvation by remission of sins, but a Saviour, a wonderful Saviour. We'll trace this through a little, shall we? And we'll go lower down the same chapter, and we'll find a man named Simeon in verse 25. And he was a just man, he was devout, and he was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord, the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he, him, up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant part in peace. According to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Hallelujah. Now that was a great prophetic statement by this man Simeon, a man full of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was making a man talk truth. And it's a marvelous thing. And he saw that God's salvation was a person. It wasn't just a state. Do you see this? Earlier in the chapter, the Lord Jesus is marked out as the Savior. Simeon looks upon him and said, this that I'm looking upon, this child, this baby, is God's salvation. Amen. He saw that salvation, he saw with the eyes of the Spirit, and he knew with the knowledge of God, by inspiration, that it was what was in that babe, you got that? That is salvation. And it was only just a little tiny babe. All right, we'll go on, shall we? And this time, we'll come into the third chapter. And in the third chapter, we read about John starting out on his great ministry. And this is the way he started. In verse 3, he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And it is as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah, the prophet, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. It wasn't just for a man inspired by the Spirit in a secluded temple precinct, or somewhere there in Jerusalem. God wanted all flesh to see the salvation of God. Hallelujah. And all flesh that had eyes to see it, and a heart to understand, saw this great salvation. There's going to come a day when all flesh, including the entire world, and universe too, entire spirits, but we're at the moment on the flesh, they're going to see the great salvation of God. Amen. And for this, Jesus Christ had to come, and no longer now a babe in arms, but thirty years about having passed since that last reading in the second chapter, he steps out from Jordan so that all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Now I want to ask you, have you seen it? Are you sure? That's why we're going to examine this gospel. Because Luke, we remember, is particularly the gospel of the Son of Man. Right down on this flesh, man level. You see? And he's portrayed in Luke as the Saviour. I know he's the Saviour in Matthew, Mark, and John, but he's portrayed in Luke, that's why these various writers wrote the things they did, or came in on the story, or the biography at the place they came in. Because of the particular emphasis that God wanted to lay, and the particular facets of truth that God wanted to emphasize, that we might see the particular thing from this angle. Glory be to the name of the Lord. And so, we're going to see Jesus the Saviour. In Luke. I know you can see Jesus the Saviour in John. But more particularly, the emphasis is Jesus God, in John. Jesus the God, in John. Jesus the man, in Luke. Jesus the Saviour. So you've got the story of his birth, his conception, and all the lot, you see, in Luke. We didn't talk about that. He says, in the beginning, God, almost. He almost says the same word as you read in Genesis. He starts, Jesus God. That's a marvellous thing. The Word became the flesh, there. And it's a tremendous thing for us to understand what God is doing. When you read your Bibles, if you keep this in mind, it will help you tremendously. Alright. Now, we've got to see this tremendous salvation, because, you see, Luke 8 tells us something. We're going to do some rather dodging about in Scripture. Luke 8 tells us this. In this marvellous parable of the sower, that is included in Luke's Gospel in this eighth chapter, he tells the parable, and this is the way he says it. The parable is this, verse 11. You should know the parable. I'm not going to repeat it. I hope you do, anyway. Read it again if you don't, but don't read it now. The seed, now listen, the seed is the Word of God. You understand that? Alright. Those by the wayside are they that hear, then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. You see, here is the tremendous thing. In this matter of salvation that God was wanting to show to them in their day, and we're going to look at it in this Gospel as they saw it in their day, that's why we have this great synopsis of his life here, that we may see it as they saw it in their day, with the greater advantage of the fuller revelation that has come since. But nevertheless, with the fuller light, let's not neglect the great light that shone on earth, when he, the light of the world, lived on it, so that men might see. But you see, behind it all, there's this, and you must understand this, and this could be a reason, if you're not seeing this salvation as you should, this could be the reason why you don't. Because as soon as the word is spoken, even Jesus' words, he said it himself. He said, I speak the word, and when I speak it's a seed, so that it should germinate and produce the thing that I say in your life. But the tremendous thing about it is that the devil's there, and out of some heart he snatches it immediately. Immediately. There's a great contest on between Satan and God. Satan doesn't want you to know this salvation, doesn't want you to see it, even as it's revealed here. When it's God's plain intention that you, my brother and sister, in the flesh like I am, should see it, and not just look at it, upon it as an observer, but see it in all its import and all its impact. You should have it, and I want God to take this time together tonight and reveal this thing to us so fully and so cleanly that every one of us in this room, whatever aspect of this salvation, for there are aspects of it in this gospel, whatever aspect of this salvation we need, we should enter into it, and don't let the devil rob you of it. You mustn't be just a sort of a wayside hearer. You know, the casual observers, they're wayside hearers. They're not in the heart of this people that are pressing through to Jesus. They're wayside. You see? And if you're like that, the devil will whip the thing away. As it's spoken, it'll have no effect on you at all, none. Now let's pray now that the devil's power should be found, shall we, in this room. Let's stop and pray now, because God intends us to enter into something real. Every one of us in this room tonight, Lord, we pray that thou would bind the devil's power now We pray thee, Lord, that here in the midst of thy church, thou has promised to be here, thou would set every heart at liberty from his advances or advices, Lord, or his malice or his bondage, please, Lord Jesus, in whatsoever state or way or guise he comes. Lord, block up every avenue now. Let us hear the word of God in our hearts. In the name of Jesus, we bind every interfering power. That we might be there, Lord, to come into all the fullness and glory of the power and presence of God. Amen. Now did you take that to yourself? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That all flesh, all of us in this room tonight, should see the salvation of God. Isn't that a marvellous thing? Now, I don't know, for instance, what kind of idea you have about this salvation. Let's turn to the 23rd chapter, just for the moment. And you will know that this is the chapter of the crucifixion in Luke's gospel. And here we read words, these words. In verse 34, or 33, when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. Now you see, he hadn't kept them from their sins because they weren't his people. They crucified him. Wicked thing they did. But he pleaded that they should be forgiven for their act. But you mustn't think that that's a plea for all mankind to be forgiven. It was for the soldiers that crucified him. They were acting on instructions. They were blindly keeping their oath of allegiance. That's what they were doing. So he prayed for them. Don't let anybody presume upon it. Of course he would have prayed for you if it had been you, just the same. But the tremendousness about it is that they parted his raiment and cast lots. Now you understand, don't you, that that was the raiment that people used to touch and get healed. They didn't. It didn't mean anything to them. To them it was just raiment. Yeah, you understand it. None of this holy coat of trees nonsense. Let's get that out of our minds. That's a blasphemous libel. It isn't true. But, but, let this sink in. Hmm. They used to just touch that and be healed when Jesus was inside it. But with Jesus outside of it, it was an empty, meant nothing. It was a shard. That's all. Nothing superstitious about this great thing that we're looking at. Nothing of superstition. It has to be really in contact with the living Saviour. Understand it. And here, then, is the tremendous thing. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the King of the Jews. And one of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou art the King of the Jews, it says over your cross. In other words, if thou art the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah, the real King of the Jews, save thyself. And thus. Now you see what I mean. None of them had a clue. Now you've got to understand what this salvation is. It's not a skin-saving thing. You see, they haven't got an idea. Come off, save yourself. You see, this is the wickedness that's in the heart of man. That's all that unregenerate man understands. He can't get beyond saving himself. Put him in a tight corner, and you'll see that's the first thing he does. Saves himself. He doesn't care how he'll do it. I've got a gun, and you've got a gun. You'll shoot me to save yourself. That's what you'll do. Of course you will. I pray I shall never be found with a gun in my hand. Never. I'm determined I never shall. I never have yet. Not on these issues. Praise the name of the Lord. You see, this skin-saving business, that's the last thing that's in the heart of Jesus. Praise his wonderful name. The soldiers said it. The thieves said it. Everybody that stood round said it. And mind you, here's their testimony. He saved others, that was their testimony. They said he saved others. They couldn't understand that if a man should save others, he shouldn't save himself. They hadn't got a clue, you see. This is the very heart of it, so far as Jesus is concerned. He was the saviour, but not of himself. Do you know, he had to be raised up from the dead by his own father. But it was said so. Marvellous, isn't it? When you come to see it. But he was raised from the dead by the glory of his father. He refused to save himself. That's the joy and glory of it. And because of this, beloved, he can save us. And he can save us in all the revealed truth that there is in this book. But oh, I want to ask you this much. Has he yet saved you from yourself? Because if he hasn't, all the other things that we're going to look at won't be much worth to you. Except by God's grace, if you've been so obtuse until this moment of time, they should lead you steadily to see the fuller thing, the greater thing. You see, if you've been so blind and so stupid, so full of man's folly. Another exhibition of it on this earth. May God lead us to the foot of the cross tonight. Not just have our sins forgiven, but have our very selves changed. Utterly. For, beloved, remember what that man said when he took him in his arms. That's Simeon, he said, I can see your salvation, Lord. It's this. What was it? A new life. Wasn't it? It was a new life. He got a glimpse beyond his age. He was speaking prophetically. Old Testament saints knew nothing about this. This is the thing revered exclusively for the New Covenant saints. Praise the name of the Lord. See it. Glory. And when you can look not just in your arms, but in here, and see it there. Then it's really come to full power along this line, in your life. And the Lord wants us to enter in here completely. I praise God when he opened my eyes to see this. That I could say, my eyes have seen thy salvation. Praise God. Now, Lord, let your servant depart, and let me become a son. I'll be a son now, not a servant, not a slave. Do you see? Let your servant depart in peace, Lord. Glory. Because all the Simons, for Simeon is another name for Simon, you know that, don't you? Just a variation on the word Simon. Simon, Simon, you know, has to have your name changed to Peter. You see? Then you're a son. Simon, a servant. Peter, a son. What a wonderful thing, that we might see this glorious truth in our own bosoms, beloved. Have you got this right then, that if you're really going to know this salvation, it's a salvation that God has planned to strike at the roots of you. Your beginnings and your begettings, and whence you've come, and who you are. It's come to destroy you. Hallelujah. It isn't a knowledge of salvation just by having your sins forgiven. It's something that God set his Son up there on a tree, beloved, to show you that the axe is laid to the root of your tree. Cut you down and destroy you. Burn you, throw you into the fire. That's right. That you might be a glorious new, new person. I hope you've seen this. Have you? All flesh must see this, praise God. But obtuse, blind flesh can't. For when a man, whilst he's yet on the earth, sees this, he says, I want to become spirit, all spirit. I want to be what you want me to be. I want to get into the spirit of this Lord. I want the spirit of this salvation. The spirit of salvation is the living God. Amen. And comes and lives in a man on this earth. Oh, it's all so wonderful. Praise his name. Everything's different then. Everything. So that you, you get words like this. If I can drop on them because I, I haven't prepared this to speak to you particularly. I think I can drop on it in the great ninth chapter. Yes, here it is. 23. He said to them all, Jesus speaking, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever, now listen, will save his life shall lose it. There you are. They said to him, now save yourself. In that act, he would have lost it. Inconceivable. Inconceivable. He came to be our saviour. But here was the temptation. The devil didn't let him go in the last throes of his agony. Tempted him to the last. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But he stopped there. You know. And he said, if any man will save his life, he shall lose it. But, whosoever will lose his life for my sake, just for my sake, my sake alone, nobody else's, just for my sake. Not in a good cause. Not in the name of Christianity or anything like that. Lose your life for my sake. And if you don't lose your life for his sake, beloved, he can't come in. You've got to lose it for his sake. For the sake of him. He wants to possess you. He came to redeem you for this. He came to buy you back for this. It's for his sake that he may come into his own in you. Didn't he buy you to make you his own? Doesn't he want to come to full stature in you? Not just a baby. For his sake. You've got to lose your life. You'll save it. This is the great paradox of it all. This is the way you save it. Praise him. What's a man advantaged if he gained the whole world? Lose his own soul. Praise the name of the Lord. And you are to take up your cross daily. Amen. And let the Lord be in you. And possess you. And you're just here for his sake. My life's for his sake. Why are you working for his sake? What are you doing that job for? For his sake. Why are you giving so much money away? For his sake. Why are you laying down this and letting that go? For his sake. Why are you preaching the gospel? For his sake. Why are you going into the whole world? For his sake. Praise the name of the Lord. It's all so tremendously simple, beloved. It's all so obvious. And the Lord wants you and I to understand this. And open our hearts tremendously to it, beloved. For you see, the Lord wants to show you his salvation. But he can't just show it to you upon the pages of a book. And he doesn't show it to you just by hanging upon a cross. He shows it to you by coming right inside and teaching you day by day. Saying, there, that's how it is. That's what it's like. The Holy Ghost coming in his name to teach us these tremendous things. But that's wonderful. Now I want you to go back into the sixth chapter. And in the sixth chapter, you find that there's a great ferrari going on about the Sabbath day. Because his disciples have gone through the fields and they've plucked some corn and they've rubbed it out and they've eaten the corn. And under the laws of their union, they've been working. So that was that. It was a union. It was a religious fanatical union. It wasn't called a union. It wasn't supposed to be a socialist state. But there it is. Under their union, all the bigwigs had put their heads together and they'd decided long ago, before this generation came on the earth, that anybody that did that was contravening the Sabbath. You see? And they were quite ready to excommunicate them or take away their privileges or do I don't know what because of it, you see? And so his disciples do it and so on. Well anyway, he said in verse 5 that the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. And it came to pass also on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath day. That they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts and said to the man which had the withered hand, rise up and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. And then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it? That was one of his unanswered questions. He never got an answer to that. He knew what they were thinking, you see. And they knew he knew. Yeah, he knew what they were thinking. And he looked round on them all. Verse 10, he says to the man, stretch forth thy hand. He did so. His hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness. Knew one with another what they might do to Jesus. Have you seen this salvation of his? Have you seen this salvation? Now they were beginning to see it. Let's go on. Not that there isn't a lot to talk about there. But we'll go on and this time we'll come into the seventh chapter. We'll trace it through. And you know that in the seventh chapter there's a story or there's an account of Jesus being asked to go into another Simon's house. You ought to do a study on this, on the name Simon in Bible. It's a great one. He goes into another Simon's house, you see. And this Simon was a Pharisee. And you probably know this story when Jesus would have expected as the ordinary rites and honors done to a guest that his feet should be washed and his head anointed with oil and should have had a kiss of welcome from his host as the honored guest. Nothing of this was done to him. This man invited him there to humiliate him. He was a true Simon. Invited him there to humiliate him. And then you know what happens. There comes a woman of the city. She brings a box of ointment. She stands behind Jesus and she weeps over him and her tears wash his feet and she wipes them with the hairs of her head. She anoints them with this precious ointment. And then the Pharisee starts to do some thinking and Jesus knows what he's thinking too. So he tells him a little story. And he says, Simon, verse 40, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Teacher, Master, it is Carlos, say on. Now you listen to what Jesus teaches. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. One owed 500 pence and the other 50. And when they had nothing to pay he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most and he said unto him, Thou shalt rightly judge. And he turned to the woman and said to Simon, you see there? He turned to the woman and spoke to Simon. It's a wonderful thing when Jesus turns to you. Hallelujah. And he said, do you see this woman, Simon? I entered into thine house. Thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tear and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. With my head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore, not therefore, therefore would have meant something different. Consequently, because she's done this, I've done it. And he's explaining that these things were the result of what was already true. Wherefore, I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, this is her love to me, as a result of being forgiven. But to whom little is forgiven, the same love is little. He says to her, thy sins are forgiven. You see? And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, inside, see, who is this that forgives sins also? He said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. Have you seen this salvation? Do you see this salvation? In one man, it's a stretch your hand out. That was salvation. What was he being saved from? Being crippled all his life. Is Jesus interested in this? Well, have you seen this? One of the great troubles with us as evangelical believers is that we keep on talking about salvation from sin, salvation from hell, and that's fine. But we seem to have forgotten that there's a salvation from being a crippled, poor beggar man. It's a marvelous thing. As well as a salvation, beloved, from just being a woman of the city. Yeah. A salvation, beloved, from knowing your sins, living in your sins, powerless to get away from your sins. A salvation from unlove. A salvation from keeping your alabaster box to yourself that's so precious. A salvation from it all. Have you really seen it? Is there salvation from hardness of heart? Have you ever wept one tear for Jesus? Have you ever wept one solitary tear for the way all the Simons treat him? Have you? There's a salvation from that, my hard-hearted friend. I remember the day when I stood before a church that I was privileged to lead in one period, and I said to them, I know God's got to do something greater in me, yet I can't cry. I hadn't shed tears for years. I was brought up rather stoically. Boys don't cry, girls do that. You see that? You haven't seen me walking around raining tears. I haven't been broken down into a completely emotional, I don't know what, uncontrollable person. But God did do something in me. There's a salvation from that unfeeling, unemotional, that shut-out, self-centered hardness. There's a salvation from it, my beloved friend. Don't you see that wayside here is a heart? Seeds sown onto the hard ground, it doesn't end there. The devil catches it away. You a wayside hearer? This woman wasn't a wayside hearer. I reckon probably she heard him at the wayside sometime. But then when he got in that place and she knew she could find him where she wasn't wanted or invited or expected, when she got in there, she was no wayside lingerer or malingerer now. She's in and she's at his feet and she's weeping on him and she's loving him and she's bestowing all she can bestow done with. She never spoke a word. One of the great things about the women in scripture is that they don't speak. They generally talk too much. You get a dominant woman in the church, for instance, it's Havoc. You find it, you read it through. You read your New Testament, that's what it's for, for you to read and understand and see what God is saying. Of course, if you get a dominant man, it's worse. Worse then because he thinks he's got scripture to back him up. The tremendousness about it is that God leads us into the truth. Do you know this salvation? That you can go in absolute peace. Praise God. A real salvation from yourself. Even fear, for instance. I can't go in there. I've not been invited. The woman, she could have made every reason or excuse. Not my sort, not my set. They don't want me. I'm one of the unwanted people, the unloved people. She could have done all the arguments that I hear so many times sitting in secret conclave with people. But she pressed through. See? Jesus only. She was saved from it all. You can be saved from it all. That's why these characters are introduced into this Bible. That you could read yourself into them. You're in this book, you know. God's got your portrait here. He's got you here. Every one of us, that's why all these things here that we shall know that God's missing none of us. Amen. You might have been a woman of the city. Anybody's woman. But once Jesus gets hold of you and you're his woman, that's it. Saved. Go in peace. Praise the name of the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? You have seen this salvation, haven't you? This is what God wants us to get hold of. Let's go into the ninth chapter again. And in the ninth chapter this is what you read. In 51 the times come for him to be received up. He'd been on the earth long enough for all flesh and his generation and in his land to see the salvation if they had eyes to see it. And he's going to be received up. They wanted to look on this salvation in heaven with holes not through him and scars all over him. That's how they wanted to see him in heaven. That's the way to be beautiful in heaven and if you go up there without a mark on you like this I don't know where you'll be. You've got to be there beloved where you've got some real marks on you spiritually for God if not physically. You've got to have them there. Then you'll be like you'll be a savior in your generation. You understand? That's what Paul instructed Timothy. He said if you do this God will hear thee. You see? Did you know there's a sense in which you've got to be your own savior? That's not blasphemy. That's written in your Bible and in mine too. Praise God. And it's a tremendous thing beloved. And here we go. He's being received up and he sets his face steadfast he'd go to Jerusalem and he sends messengers before his face to make ready for him and they did not receive him because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this they said Lord will thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elijah did but he turned and rebuked them and he said you know not what manner of spirit ye are of son of man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. Glory to God. He's come to save your life entirely. You do understand that don't you? He can't think that your life should be given up to selfish interests and self pursuit and worldly things or sin or Satan. He can't bear it. He'd rather endure the cross than that which he did. He's come to save your life. Hallelujah. What a tremendous thing this is. That every part of your thinking reasoning responding responsive living soul over every part of it what you're able to do in your home out there in the world everything it should all be saved for you. If he doesn't save it for you you won't have it. You can't save it for yourself. You understand that? He's come for to save it for you. Praise God. God doesn't want you to arrive up in heaven with just your spirit come with the sort of sulphury smell about you your spirit regenerate. He wants all this soul life while you're on earth saved. How long are you going to live here? Some of you. Another 50 years? If the Lord doesn't come or you know take in all the things we understand into consideration he wants every minute of those 50 years saved for you and you will have it in eternity. You will have it. He not only wants you to have him but he wants you to have yourself. Jesus not only saved you but he's got himself too. You do see this don't you? Simply because he wasn't thinking of himself first. He didn't bleed for himself. He just went and bled and died for you and me. And you beloved you can have this life of your's saved. You needn't give it up for the devil to feed on to have his lustful ways in. You needn't give it up. You can be saved from it. Isn't that a precious thing? You needn't be there for lustful men and women to feed their horrible fleshy lusts on. See? It can be given over for the saints of God to feed on in all purity. That's right. And in all love. Yeah and in all joy and peace. It can be given up to the fellowship of the saints beloved. Oh it's a precious thing. Christ in you. It's a marvelous thing. He's come to save your life. You do understand that don't you? He wants to save your looking and your thinking and your hearing. He wants to save your loving and your kissing and your hugging. You say kissing? Yeah that's right. That's right. Praise God. I shall kiss my hostess before I leave tonight. I don't know whether you're alive too but I will be. Why not? That's right. Praise God. This is what the Lord wants. Don't you understand? Saved from all ulterior motives or self gain or lusting or anything like that. He wants it pure and holy. This is salvation. And when you go to his feet to weep over them and anoint them and love them it isn't to be kicked in the mouth by him. Beloved. It's so that you might come into the fellowship of his feet. And perhaps if you kiss his feet follow him. Follow where they tread. If you love his feet. Everyone loves his feet. That's a strange thing to say. Don't you? How beautiful his feet are. He came down from heaven and walked on his feet. Talk about the beautiful feet of them that bring good tidings. Don't you love his feet? Walked every step of the way to Calvary along the Via Dolorosa and nailed onto the cross for you and bruised the serpent's head for you. Hallelujah. Don't you love his feet? You learn to kiss his feet and walk in his footsteps. You'll be saved man, woman. Saved. I'm not talking now about whether you go to hell or not. I mean saved from the vulgarity and the lecherousness and all the terrible rottenness of the age. In which you're living you'll be saved. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Have you seen this salvation? All flesh shall see the salvation. Can my flesh be saved? Hallelujah. My flesh can be saved. It can be saved from sickness. It can be saved from disease. And it can be saved from the sickening, twisting, crippling effects of the devil. My soul can be saved. My moments can be saved. My life can be saved. Everything about me can be saved. Have you seen it? Look how God saves people. There's another aspect of this great salvation. Why, hallelujah, this Bible's better than we know. We didn't deserve to have a Bible, but God just gave it to us. This is another part of his goodness. And in this great 19th chapter, look at this chap. He's a man. He's chief amongst the publicans and sinners. He'd lived a twisted, perverted, business life. All his life. He had. You see, he'd sought all sorts of things. He sought to see Jesus in bursary. He was a very rich man. And he was a little man too. And he couldn't see him because he was so small. And there was such a crowd round Jesus. But he said, I'm going to see him. And Jesus comes to this place, verse 5. And he looks up. He says, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. Come down, Zacchaeus. Don't stop up there. For today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down. Received him joyfully. And when they saw him, they all murmured. They said, he's gone to be guests with a man. He's a sinner. He didn't know him. Because he wasn't a sinner. But now, he had been. Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. If I've taken anything from any man by force, I restore him fourfold. Jesus said to him, This day a salvation comes to this house. For as much as he also is a son of Abraham. The son of man is come to seek and to save. That which was lost. What? Save him from what? Save him from giving up his life to the business and the commercial world. That's right. Saved him. On the level of finance. And dealings with his fellow men. That's right. Have you seen this salvation? Have you seen it? Zacchaeus saw it. Glory. Glory to God. He saw it. Come down, Zacchaeus. He says, come down. He was coming on. He got a long way, that man. He said, half of my goods. He was only half way there. Jesus gave all his. But never the less. Never the less. You see. Jesus gave all. That's a big step for a man to come 50% of the way in one stride. I tell you. You should honour Zacchaeus. He says, salvation's come to this house, Zacchaeus. He didn't care about what other people were saying. Well, he did care in that sense. But you know what I mean. He was just concerned with this man. Just this little fellow. How big he was. Doesn't make any difference. And Jesus got down to his level there. Loved him. Went. Lived in his house with him for some time. And he says, I've come to seek and to save that which was lost. Do you know what's been lost? Zacchaeus. No, he didn't say him who was lost. He said that. Neuter. Neuter. Has your life been lost to God on your business side so far? Don't you know Jesus Christ wants to be in it? You've seen the salvation, have you? I want to tell you it's complete. It's utter. It covers every aspect of life. And you're not to do any job that you can't do in this manner. You're to leave it and get a different one. But don't leave it before you've witnessed first. Tell them. This is the tremendous thing, beloved. If only Christians saw what Jesus Christ is after. Take up your cross and follow him. And he'll save your life for you. Save it for you. It would be wonderful to go to heaven if you got 50 years of enjoyment of this glorious life on earth. And every minute's been saved for you. This is the bank to put it all in. Amen. That's what Jesus is after. Praise God. It's as simple as ABC. Now, I'd better stop because of the time factor. It's not too bad. But I could start to give you illustrations on the finance side. On the business side. Glory be to the name of the Lord. On all these sides, I want to tell you, you have to prove this. I remember when we started our business back in the last war, which I've already told you, I wouldn't take up any arms. I did a spell in prison. But anyway, we started our business with nothing. Linings hanging out of our pockets. I don't know how in the world we did it. I think we spent about five pounds as an outlay to start. At least my father-in-law did. I hadn't got any money. He laid down five pounds. Yeah. And my beloved, I want to tell you that God had reached us both. And we were moving. Of course, my wife was in it too. And so on. And our babies, they used to come up with us when we were doing our business in what we did. And gradually, gradually, gradually, God enabled us to set such a standard in that business. This is to the glory of God, beloved. And it's natural. It's nothing great for a man to do. He's going against his nature if he doesn't do what God wants him to do. Serves him right if he does come into trouble. It's simple. I mean, you can't help being a human being if you're a human being, can you? You say, isn't it marvellous? He's eating some food. And he sits up and uses a knife and fork. Well, nobody says he's marvellous for that. It's natural. Natural in this realm too. There's no credit for it. But I remember we were in the wood. We started in the wood trade. And the man of the government, who was over all this part of wood in the southeast of England, brought a man and introduced him to me as a contact for business. And he introduced me, all glory to God, as the only honest woodcutter I've ever met. There you are. We had no money then. None at all. You see? But there wasn't anything wonderful about that. We should be honest, shouldn't we? You see, God saves that. I've got all that behind me. That's not lost. God won't have to blot that out because it's such a terrible thing. Don't you see? I'm only taking this as an illustration to you. You must see this. Did you drive hard bargains to try and knock people down? No, I can't. That's dishonesty. No. What their price was, we paid. That's another way of twisting it. Oh, you say, but they're trying to twist me. There you are. You see? You're on the worst level. Don't you see? You're not there. It's God you're doing business with. If he likes to let you lose £5, that's up to him. He'll probably give you £10. He's given me many a £10. It doesn't matter about what you lose over a bargain. That's got nothing to do with it. You're doing business with Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ. Oh, but it's God's money. He could have better given it to the mission field. But are you sure you would have given it to the mission field? Now, don't you start that. Are you sure you would have done? I mean, that's all highfalutin talk. Sounds all right. Nay, beloved. The wonderful thing is to know that God can save you. Save you. Even if you do find yourself up a tree now and again. It won't matter if you've hung on the right tree and you've been crucified with Christ. The Lord is wanting to take us into so much. I'd like to go into the 13th chapter with you. And perhaps this ought to be the final one for tonight. In the great 13th chapter, this is what we read. Verse 22. He goes through cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto him, them, five million. Five thousand million. Ten. Did he? No. He didn't answer. What he laid down was a principle. None of it strived to enter in at the straight gate, my friend. It's between me and my Father. We know how many are going to be saved. Your business is to strive to enter in at the straight gate. Hallelujah. Many there be that will want to enter and won't be able. When once the master of the house is risen up and is shut to the door and you begin to stand without, to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto you, I know not whence you are. See? These are the people who only begin to stand at the door when it's shut. They'd have come and stood at the doorway when it was open and gone in. They're making a big fuss now when it's too late. My beloved, you and I are to see what the Lord is saying. I want to tell you that it's a straight gate and a narrow way. This gate and way of salvation. Praise God. And you and I have got to walk in it. Got to walk in it. Praise him. Are you walking in it? Are you walking in it? You've seen it now, haven't you? Of course I've just taken texts that use the word salvation. You know this is a favourite method of mine. This is the sort of thing, or some of you will anyway, this is the sort of thing that I love to do. But the whole gospel is really an exposition of it. A display of it. What God will do. I said I would make that the last, but... I want to make another reference here if I can drop on it. I think possibly I've missed it. I'm not so sure about that. No, I haven't. It's in the 18th chapter of the Bible. Lord's grace, here we are. He's going to Jericho in verse 35. A blind man is sitting by the wayside. You know his name. His name is Bartimaeus. He's the son of Timaeus. And he cries to Jesus and he says, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I might receive thy sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight. Thy faith hath saved thee, and immediately you will see. Salvation, beloved, is immediate. It's immediate. You can immediately enter the gate. Now. You can immediately receive healing. Salvation. You can immediately have the whole of your business life straightened out. Because it's first straightened out in your heart. When you get straightened out with God. Then the rest of it. But right. That's where you take up the cross daily. And follow him. And that's your salvation. In the daily walk. Hallelujah. You can immediately have your sins forgiven. You can immediately die now. By the power of that crucifixion. Finish with yourself. It's all in this great salvation. You can see it, can't you? You can immediately have your hard stony heart broken and crushed and melted and washed away. Immediately. You can have it done. Immediately you can pour your alabaster box upon him. All your ointment you can pour upon him. It's what you're worth to Jesus that counts. It doesn't matter what you're worth to the world. Amen. And to him you're worth everything. That's lovely, isn't it? Simon's rule. Everybody knows what she is. You see. Yeah, Jesus did know what she was. He loved her. That's how he loves you. All of you. You can bring your sin. Bring yourself. Bring everything. He'll take it. That's the marvel of the Lord. You can bring your complexes and conflicts. You can bring your bitterness. You can bring your sentiments. You can bring your emotions. You can bring your soul. You can bring your spirit. You can bring your body. Bring everything to the Lord. Unto you a Saviour was once born. And he would not save himself because he would save you. Amen. And out you go when he saves you. Not to save yourself. Finally you'll be able to say like Paul the Apostle. I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. Though the more I love, the less I be loved. That's right. That's Paul writing his second letter to the Corinthians. Yeah. That's him. And it's all so wonderful. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on, let's pray.