In this sermon, the preacher shares a story about five young men who were saved from the Atlantic Ocean after being stranded for thirteen days. They prayed together and made a promise to pay God back in His way. They approached the preacher and gave him an envelope with a contribution to his church funds, as a way of fulfilling their promise. The preacher reflects on the concept of marriage and how saying "I will" to the Lord Jesus Christ unites believers with Him and makes all His blessings and salvation their personal possession.

So, but maybe the congregation will praise me for it. So, we're very glad they were able to sing that beautiful song which is a favourite of us all. Thank you very much. So beautifully done, but no notice at all. How about that? Very, very good. It's been my privilege through the years to go to various conference centres in different parts of the world. And indeed to conduct a conference centre for about eight years, years ago. But there's nothing just like part of the palms. Kind of unique. The atmosphere is always beautiful. And the fellowship is so good that we are loathe to leave. But of course we've come to the end now and we must go. I was thinking today, I think one of these years I'm coming for three and a half months. So that I can get it all in and listen to some of the ministry that we've had. Now some complaining that their memories are failing. I hope their memories don't fail them so much that they can only remember the last week. That's the only week I can remember. But you'll remember them all. It'll be a bad thing if you can only remember the last week. And somebody will probably say to you, well what did you think of Brother Clifford? Well he didn't hold me like some of the other priests did. They'd be saying things like that. Somebody will say, well he was all right but his messages were like the horns of a spear. A point here and a point there and a lot of bull in between. Well that might be so occasionally but I do trust there's been something from the Lord about the Lord to draw us nearer to the Lord. And of course our whole idea, as I'm sure is yours, is that the Lord Jesus should be exalted in the meeting in talk of the palms and in our individual hearts and lives and experiences. One of your American preachers came to England some years ago and he thought he would go and hear two of our famous preachers. He wanted to hear Dr. Parker and Spurgeon. So he went on Sunday morning. I think it was the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear Dr. Parker. And Sunday evening he went to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon. So he said, well what do you think? Well he said, it's like this. He said, Dr. Parker is a great preacher. But Spurgeon has a great preacher. Well of course I'm sure Dr. Parker was talking about the praises. But the thing that impressed him about Spurgeon's message was he was exalting the Lord Jesus all the time. Oh for the tongue of an angel to do just this thing, to magnify our Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful grace of Jesus, praise his name. Well it's been a wonderful experience for us and we should be glad of your prayers, please. We should be thinking of you and praying for you all from time to time. And if you can share a little prayer sometimes for the Lord's work in Bermuda. Bible school, we're starting there this week on Thursday, God willing. And the end of September we go back to the Bahamas to continue where we left off there. Maybe a little more difficult, we don't know. When we get to the Bahamas then, because they'll have independence then. It's coming to the Bahamas on July the 10th, as you know. And we can make some special prayer maybe. So think of us from time to time. And if the Lord hasn't come between now and next September. We should begin to see the answers to your many prayers, I'm sure. Let's bring together a beautiful psalm of worship and praise. Psalm 116, Psalm 116. I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplication. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous. Yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple, that is the lowly. I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believe, therefore have I spoken. I was greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, all men are liars. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, truly I am thy bond-servant, thy bond-slave. I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bond. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye the Lord. My ways, saith the Lord, are not as your ways. As the heavens are high above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. In this psalm we see something of the ways in which God himself deals with his creatures, and is quite different from the way that we deal with one another. As a matter of fact, the psalm itself is full of paradoxes. We were talking a little bit about paradoxes this morning, and saying that the Christian life itself is a paradox. God's ways of gain are seeming lost. We die to live, but his life comes after the cross our lives we give. Now this psalm is full of paradoxes like that. For instance, in verse 3 he says, The pains of hell get hold upon me, I've found trouble and sorrow. And then he says in verse 7, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. In verse 5 he says, Greatest is the Lord, and righteous. Think of that. And then he says, Righteous is the Lord, and merciful. I'll explain that a little later on, I hope. In verse 8 he says, Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and I'm going to walk before the Lord in the land of the living. And in verse 15 he says, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. And in verse 12, which is the outstanding one, he says, What shall I render unto the Lord? What shall I give to the Lord? I will take. What shall I give? I will take a cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. This, of course, is a divine principle. Before we can give anything to God at all which is acceptable to him, we must take the salvation he is offering through Jesus Christ our Lord. And there is a great principle here. God will not be satisfied with anything we can do for him or give to him until first of all we take the salvation which he at such great cost through his son at Calvary has procured and purchased for us. What shall I render? I will first of all take thy salvation. During the war there was a special meeting being held in Liverpool, and there were 200 merchant seamen there, and all of them had been rescued from the Atlantic. Their ships had gone down, had been torpedoed, and they had been saved. Some of them had had dreadful experiences. Now they'd been invited to gather together for a thanksgiving service as well as a special kind of banquet meal. And when the meal was over, they gathered together in the chapel for a song service and an informal time. And they sang, "'For those in peril on the sea' and they sang, "'Throw out the lifeline, across the dark waves "'there is a brother whom someone could save' And they'd all been saved themselves in the last few days from the Atlantic Ocean. And then before the actual meeting began, one young fellow came up to the preacher and said to him, "'Excuse me, sir, but are you the minister?' "'Well,' he said, "'yes, if you like, I'm preaching here anyway today.' "'Well,' he said, "'that'll do fine.' They said to him, "'Now would you mind taking this envelope here "'for your church funds. "'It's from five of us.' "'Well,' he said, "'what do you mean?' "'Well,' he said, "'we are making a contribution to your church funds. "'Will you please take that?' "'Well,' he said, "'I haven't told you what church I belong to.' "'Well,' he said, "'that doesn't matter at all. "'You take that to your church funds. "'There's money in there.' "'So,' he said, "'well, what's all this about?' "'Well,' he said, "'in by this time the others had joined him. "'There were five young men talking to the preacher. "'And they said to him, "'George, who was speaking for the party, "'they said, "'Well, we were saved from the Atlantic "'and we promised to pay God back. "'So will you please have this envelope "'towards your church funds?' "'Well,' he said, "'I'm not sure whether I ought to take it. "'You see, I'm not quite sure "'whether this is the way to pay God back.' "'He said, "'What happened to you anyway?' "'Well,' they said, "'we were torpedoed, "'and at least our ship was, "'and we were in an open boat "'for thirteen days and thirteen nights "'and were given our hope of ever being saved.' "'And then,' he said, "'Bill said to me, "'he said, "'George, we haven't prayed yet. "'We haven't cried prayer yet.' "'So I said to Bill, "'Well, you pray then.' "'But he wouldn't pray "'and none of the others would. "'They said they didn't know how to.' "'And I said to them, "'Well, I don't know how to pray either, "'but I'll tell you what, "'if you'll close your eyes, "'I'll have a go.' "'So he said, "'We all closed our eyes "'and this is what I prayed. "'Oh God, "'get us out of this strife "'and we'll pray your best. "'Amen.' "'Now,' he said, "'it was a miracle.' "'We all think it was a miracle "'because we opened our eyes "'and we saw the Spanish ship on the horizon. "'Now we've seen ships on the horizon before, "'none of them had ever come anywhere near us, "'but this one did, "'came right to where we were. "'And of course we were picked up "'and we are here today "'and we promised to pay God back.' "'And God answered our prayer.' "'So they said, "'Now you'll take that "'towards your church, son.' "'Wasn't it half a minute before, "'I must explain to you "'the way to pay God back.' "'And just as it was about to start, "'the bell rang "'and it was time for the service to begin.' "'So they took their seats "'and they had a prayer and another hymn, "'one of those peace songs "'that we all love so very much. "'And then my friend started to preach "'and I'm sure that in his sermon "'here came the way of paying God back, "'of really showing thanksgiving "'and gratitude to God "'for his deliverance from a watery grave "'and for all the blessings of this life.' "'And I'm not sure whether he used this text "'but this was his idea anyway. "'What shall I render unto the Lord "'for all his benefits toward me? "'I will take thy salvation "'and call upon the name of the Lord.'" And so towards the end he said, "'Now is there anybody here "'who would like to pay God back like that? "'Instead of offering him something, "'take what he's offering to you. "'Don't despise his overtures of mercy "'and love and salvation in Christ. "'Take his salvation. "'Take his son "'to be your own personal saviour. "'Is there anybody here "'like to pay God back like that?' "'And George stood up. "'He said, I will, sir.' "'He said, come out. "'Come to the front. "'Is there anybody else "'like to pay God back like that? "'Take his salvation.' "'And Bill stood up. "'He said, I will, sir.' "'He said, you come out as well.' "'And they sat around a round table "'just in the front of the portrait. "'Now he said, wait a minute. "'Anybody else?' "'And the other three came out. "'That made five of them. "'The five who were in that boat "'for thirteen days and thirteen nights "'and prayed that prayer together. "'And now they were going to pay God back "'in God's way.' "'And he stopped the meeting "'while he led them to the saviour. "'And they each for themselves "'received Christ Jesus, "'who is God's salvation for anybody and everybody, "'received him into their hearts and lives "'as their own personal saviour. "'I will take my salvation,' they said. "'And they received Jesus. "'And then the meeting was concluded "'in a proper and orderly manner. "'What shall I render? "'I will take.'" Imagine a young fellow being caught in the grounds of Lord Snowdon, shall we say. The grounds of his home. He's evidently out to see what he can steal. But he's caught red-handed by Lord Snowdon himself. He takes him inside. And of course the young fellow is trembling from head to foot. And he said to him, "'Now what were you doing?' And the boy is speechless. And he says, "'Why were you trying to steal something from me?' And the boy is speechless. And finally Lord Snowdon gets it out of this chap that he's unemployed, he hasn't got a job, he has certain commitments. And that's why he's doing this. And so Lord Snowdon says, "'Well now, I'm going to give you a new start. "'I'm not going to condemn you,' he said. "'I'm going to buy you a kit of tools. "'And I'm going to introduce you to a friend of mine. "'I'm going to give you a real new start in life.'" And this young fellow said, "'Oh well, sir, very, very kind of you, "'but I'll have to do something for that. "'What can I do? "'I'll come round tomorrow morning and mow your lawn for you.'" Lord Snowdon says, "'Now look here, I don't want you to mow my lawn for me. "'I've got a better lawn mower than you are. "'Now I want you to take what I'm offering and be thankful. "'Nothing that you can do for me "'will be acceptable to me "'until you first take the salvation that I'm offering.'" God has procured for us a wonderful salvation from all our sins, and from the consequences of our sins in the person of his dear son. Let us receive them, and take God's salvation by faith. And then of course we can live for his praise and for his glory, and render unto the Lord. And although we can offer nothing to God for our salvation, when once we are saved, there are many present day sacrifices that we can make to God. We never sacrifice to get salvation because of Christ's once for all sacrifice. Sufficient sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. If you can work your salvation today, why did Jesus die? And he died because you couldn't save yourself. You must accept God's salvation. But then you will work like any slave for love of God's dear son, I'm quite sure. And there's quite a list of scriptural present day sacrifices that we believers can make to God for all that he's done for us in his son, and the salvation he's given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now there are really three special main ideas in this psalm that I wanted to bring before you this evening. First of all, notice how this man David, in his experience recited here, was condemned and convicted. But the result of it was his soul was saved. And then notice how he was defeated and brought very low. But the result of it was he was lifted up and blessed abundantly. And then notice later on how that he was bound in a certain way. But in that bondage he found real liberty and freedom. Now this is where these paradoxes come in. Applying it to ourselves, this is the message tonight. From the first part of the psalm, God condemns us that he might save us. And a few verses lower down, God defeats us that he might deliver us. And then finally, I think it's verse 16 he says, God binds us that he might set us free. My ways are not your ways, saith the Lord. Now God condemns us first of all. Now we must do this of course, as he did in the case of the psalmist. He comes to say we are guilty sinners and he's a holy God and he knows exactly what we are and how we've come short in his glory. In his holiness he must condemn us. But his whole idea is that he might save us. He condemns us to save us. The psalmist says here, the sorrows of death comfort me, the pains of hell get hold upon me, I've found trouble and sorrow. There he is under the condemning hand of God, brought very low with conviction of sin. And God has done it. He's shown me his knees as a saviour. Remember he says, Save us, I call upon the name of the Lord. O Lord I beseech thee, deliver my soul. He was under conviction of sin. The pains of hell get hold upon him. This conviction of sin is a working of the Holy Spirit in the human heart. When a man is not born again, is not a committed Christian, is not really the Lord, the Holy Spirit often from time to time moves in the heart, very often through the preaching of the gospel, showing the man what a guilty sinner he is and how he needs a saviour. I remember Jim Boswell and I were conducting a mission in Eversham in Worcester a few years ago. It was a tent crusade and there was a certain lady, Mrs. Tender, who came to every meeting. But she was not saved. As a matter of fact, all through the crusade she was under deep conviction of sin. She was quite a student in many ways. She studied many of the arts and sciences, was a worshipper of the sun god Ra, and was genuinely mixed up with philosophy. But she was really under conviction during these meetings. She told me, she said, I'm not sleeping at night. She said, I'm so concerned, I'm praying all night long. She said, at five o'clock I stop and I go to bed for an hour, then I have to get up to get the breakfast to get the others off to work. We had talk after talk and argument after argument and debate after debate and she seemed to be no nearer. But she was really troubled in her soul. The pains of hell got hold upon her. She found trouble and she found sorrow. And I remember her coming the last morning prayer meeting at ten o'clock in the morning to the martyr. When it was over I went to her and I said, Mrs. Tender, how are you feeling today? Well, she said, I'm no nearer. I said, listen, give up all your sciences and all your philosophies and all your reasonings and debates and tell me this, you do not project in your heart and life Jesus Christ, the Son of God as your own saviour, do you? She said, no I don't. I said, he's the one you need, he is your only saviour. Now I said, don't pray anything wonderful but something very simple. Ask him to come into your heart and life now. And she closed her eyes and said, Lord Jesus, Son of God, come into my life. Amen. And the burden went, the conviction departed and she was the Lord. If you feel tonight or any time that the Holy Spirit of God is cutting your heart, pulling at your heartstrings, telling you you need a saviour, suggesting to you that you ought to get right with God, reminding you you're not going to last on this earth forever and there's eternity beyond. And when the Holy Spirit through the words, through the teacher or on his own, apart from anything at all sometimes, he speaks to your heart that you'll need a saviour. Respond to the Holy Spirit of God and the conviction will depart and the joy of the Lord will be your strength and Christ will be your saviour. God always condemns us first because he's holy and he saves us next because he is love. What's the good of me teaching the love of Christ, the love of God and his son if I don't preach to you your sinnership and need of a saviour? And God that always condemns us first, he sent the law to condemn people. God's law, God's pandem, it came to none, it never saved a thing. But it showed many people, many souls that they needed a saviour. When they saw God's standards and they said, oh wretched man that I am, I've come short of all this. I'm a guilty sinner, I am, I'm a transgressor of God's law. So God condemns us first that he might save us next. I think in one sense it's true to say that God sent his son to condemn us as well as to save us. You know that he was the standard of righteousness, God's standard, when he appeared upon earth. And people in his presence were condemned very often. Peter said, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord. You are the most holy one. Now he said, I'm going to the Father when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convince you of sin of righteousness and of judgment of righteousness because I go to the Father. The Holy Spirit will tell you what God's standard of righteousness is when I go but while I am here I am God's standard of righteousness. And when they were in his presence they shriveled up and they got away and they walked away. One by one they departed. They felt their sinfulness in the presence of God's standard of righteousness, the holy, holy spotless son of God. So in one sense it's true that Jesus came to condemn men because of his absolute holiness and their lack of it. But of course he came to save men from their lack of holiness and to impart to them his own. Blessed be his name. On the cross he died to take away us and today he lives to give us his own personal holiness the moment we trust him as our savior. And so he says here, the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. God always condemns us first. That's what he sent the Holy Spirit for. He will convince you of your sins and of God's standard of righteousness and of judgment as well. Thank God for the work of the Holy Spirit in the world today, condemning men to our sinners. But of course he doesn't leave his work finished at that point. He goes on to reveal to men the law of Jesus Christ and to unite them to him in a wonderful union. Now faith is the marriage bond between Christ and the believer or the other way around, the believer and Christ. And when I say I will to the Lord Jesus Christ, then all his blessings and his full salvation become my personal possession. And of course all my debts were chargeable to him as well. When I say that, I'm thinking of an old English law an old English law where two people, when they were joined in matrimony, the moment he said I will, then legally at that moment, all her debts became chargeable to him and all his possessions became hers to share. Now the men didn't like this because they had the law changed. So it's not like that today ladies, I'm sorry to say. But it is like that in the spiritual sense. Because the moment I say I will to the Saviour and trust him, then all his blessings become mine. Blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. And of course all my debts become his responsibility. That he with his fierce vision and prophets I foresaw this, and he came a long time ago to pay my debt. And it cost him so much to do it as well. His life he gave, his precious blood he shed, that my debt might be cleared her forever. The old account was settled, praise God, long ago. Well now here in verse 5, the psalmist says, gracious is the Lord and righteous. And then he says, righteous is the Lord and merciful. Now in God's grace he gives to us what we don't deserve. In his mercy he withholds from us what we do deserve because of our sin. That's gentleness. You see the difference don't you? In his grace he gives us what we don't deserve. In his mercy he keeps from us what we do deserve. Doesn't he? And it says here that God is gracious and God is merciful. Now in between the two God is righteous. Now how on earth can God be gracious and righteous at the same time? How can he on a righteous correct basis give to us what we do not deserve? And the same question arises, how on earth can almighty God who is righteous in all his works and ways keep from us the judgment that we do deserve because of our sin? How can he do it? Now your judges in this country can't do that. They might attempt to do it occasionally, but they're not supposed to do that. They have to dispense righteous judgment. And if a man is guilty they just stand in their mercy, keep them back. But God can. God can give us a full salvation and we don't deserve it, and he can do it righteously. You know why? Because Christ died to pay for it for us. And he can save us from our sin. And we don't deserve to be saved eternally from our sin, but God can do it righteously. You know why? Because Christ paid the debt on the cross itself. And now through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin. You see Romans 1 16 is the favorite verse of ours which says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to those that believe. But there's another reason why Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ and it's in the next verse. And it's the most important reason, it's the subject of the whole of his epistle to Romans, the righteousness of God. Because he says in verse 17, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because in it is the righteousness of God unto you. And God he gives us the whole salvation righteously. And he keeps us from the consequences of our sin when we pass his son on the righteous way. He is merciful. Therefore if ever you are saved by the grace of God and you are delivered from hell you will owe it all to the Lord Jesus to die to pay the price and to bring to you eternal blessings. And that's why tonight we're inviting you to put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for he is your only salvation with him there is no hope. Without him there is no hope. Now imagine in Britain one of our magistrates or judges having a young fellow there in front of him in the dock. And the crime according to the book here is that this man has been caught entering and stealing whatever is the correct term for that. And when the judge comes and sees this young man he recognizes him. He knows his father. As a matter of fact this young fellow's father is the judge's personal friend in the city. And he has a great desire to let him off because of his friendship with his father. But he can't. He says I'm a righteous judge. I have to dispense righteousness I can't let him off. And the young fellow is found guilty. And the judge he pronounces the verdict and he tells him what the fine is to do. The fine or else so many months down below. And then he himself when the case is over he goes round the back gets out the car drives home or as a chauffeur to drive him home. And then he gets to his desk and he writes out a cheque for the amount that he has imposed on this young fellow. And he sends his son back to the court office to pay the fine. And so the man is free. And thank God for all that he has done. We have sinned against him. This young fellow had we should have said, broken into the judge's home itself. And we've sinned against God himself. He himself in his righteousness has imposed the fine. Yes. But he himself has sent his son to pay the fine by his death and the shedding of his blood. And now we receiving what has been done find a full salvation. You see God condemns us first because he's righteous. And then he saves us next because he is loved. God hates the sinner. God hates the sin because he's righteous. But he loves the sinner because he is loved. And for God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son. But whosoever believeth in him in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Not only does God condemn us for slavery but God defeats us to deliver us. Notice in verse six he said, the Lord preserveth the lowly. I was brought low and he helped me. Now God cannot bring a man into the blessings which he has for him until he has first of all defeated him. Until he has first of all conquered him. The psalmist says here, I was brought low and then it was he helped me. Now there are many examples of this in the word. Jacob Princeton was touched and crippled by God at the brook Javok and it was in that very attitude that he became a prince with God. Saul the passer on the way to Damascus was blinded and broken and bent. And in that very attitude he became a chosen vessel for the Lord to declare his word among the Gentiles. Asaph in experience. It is my heart and my flesh faileth. And when you read it up the first time you say what a shame. Asaph must have been in a bad way. But there he goes on to say, my heart and my flesh faileth but now God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. God defeats us, God brings us low, God makes us weak, God robs us of our own self will so that he might bring up his blessings and lift us up. God defeats us to deliver us. Why does he do this? Well I suppose we are so self-willed. We think we can do it ourselves. I suppose that we feel sometimes of ourselves we are strong enough we are too strong for God to bless us. I was brought low and then he helped me. And that is often the case. Look at Gideon for instance. The Lord tells Gideon and Gideon said how can I deliver Israel? He said listen my father's house is the poorest house in the whole of the tribe of Manasseh. Just what I wanted for this. And he says and I'm the most insignificant in the whole. Just what I want said the Lord. How can I save Israel? I will be with thee. Go and this I might have not I send through. And then you remember he blew his trumpet and he sounded who is on the Lord's side. And various tribes came and stood with him to fight the Lord's battles against the Midianites. And then it was that God said there's too many people there to fight my battles. Let Israel go and tell them so. Mine own hand has saved me. You see no flesh of glory in God's presence. That is eternal principle. If it's going to be glorified through mankind it will be by its own mighty power and not by the struggling of their flesh. So it wasn't God said send them home. Just a mere 300 left. And 300 and Gideon against the hosts of Midian was just nothing at all. And God said that's what I want just nothing at all. And nothing at all plus almighty God always fails this way. I was brought low and then he helped me. We're too strong sometimes. Because you see his strength is only made perfect in weakness. When we come to an end of ourselves. To which end corner? When we get right to the limit and give up. Then God can come in with his all mightiness and do a new thing in us and for us and for us. God not only condemns us to favour but he he hates us to deliver us. I was telling a crusade Dr Alan Redpath in a Birmingham town hall some years ago during the war. And I remember on a Sunday afternoon we had a mass women's rally. And there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women there. Very very good meeting. And at the end Alan Redpath made an invitation. And there was a lady sitting not far from me who was responding to the invitation with others. And I had a little conversation with her afterwards. And I said glad to see you responded to the invitation. Can I help you? I said how far have you got? How do you feel about things? Well she said young man I'd like you to know that I've lost everything in the recent blitz on Birmingham. Well I said I'm very sorry to hear that. I said did you lose everything? She said listen I've lost everything in the blitz. I said well now tell me madam you've lost everything in the blitz. What do you want now? She said now I feel I want to save you. And I never felt that before. And sometimes God has to defeat us to deliver us. As well as condemn us to save us. And not only so but God binds us to set us free. This is toward the end of the Psalm where he says Oh Lord truly I am thy bond slave. I am thy bond slave and the son of thine hand made. Thou hast loosed my bonds. What is the interpretation of this lovely verse? It may be this Lord you have loosed my bonds and set me free and given me liberty. So now I am binding myself up again to you to be your slave all my days. Now that would be good wouldn't it? And I think it's a very scriptural idea and it's a very happy thought. Lord you set me free so I'll be your slave all my days. Like the slave girl in the auction mart in the Middle East. She was being auctioned and there was a British colleague who was standing watching this because he'd never seen one of these auctions before. And he thought it was rather sad. And before he knew what he was doing he started bidding for this girl. She was only about 17 or 18. And the hammer went down and he'd bid the highest price. So we went down to the office and paid the money and then he didn't know what to do. But they gave him the girl. So he said now look he said I've paid for you to set you free. But she didn't understand she'd been a slave for years and she didn't understand what freedom was. He said now you're free to do what you like. Go where you go. Try and find your mum and dad. You're free to do what you like. You're free. He said I've paid the money so that you can be free. And when the truth dawned upon her poor benighted brain she flung herself at his feet and said oh sir if you've brought me to set me free I'll be your slave forever. Now is that the idea here? Maybe. Well it was Peter's idea anyway. He says now use your liberty which you Christians have got in Christ use your liberty not for your own selfish ends as a cloak of maliciousness but as the bondmen, the bond slaves of God. Thou hast loose bonds I am thy bond slave. Well I prefer to take the the correct way as it's stated here and not the other way around. Oh Lord truly I am thy bond slave. Thou hast loose my bonds. In other words Lord I am binding myself to you your will for my life my service for you all my days. I am your bond slave Lord. I bind myself of my own volition to you and to your perfect will and in so doing I am beginning to find glorious spiritual liberty. There is no freedom like the freedom that is in Christ. There's no liberty like the liberty of the sons of God and there's nothing like being bound to the Lord and to his perfect will for our lives. He not only condemns us to slavery but defeats us to deliver us but he binds us to his perfect will. You know we're finding this in England in our smaller towns now that a one-way system has been forced upon us. Because we've been trying to get through some of these little towns with our cars you know he's coming this way and I'm going that way and we get stuck and somebody wants to park and it's an absolute impossibility. So they have developed in most of the towns a one-way system you know you can't go through that way but if you come back that way you have to go round that way to get to the other side. And we have seen the sense and the wisdom of accepting the discipline of one-way traffic so that we can keep moving. It's a kind of bondage which gives us perfect liberty and liberty in Christ is like that by being bound to his perfect will. My freedom says the hymn writer is thy grand control. Make me a captive Lord and then I shall be free. May the Lord keep us the way of blessings. If you're going to be really free you must be bound to God and Christ in his will. And if you're going to be exalted then you must allow the Lord to bring you low and then he will lift you up. He defeats us but he might deliver us. And if you're going to be saved you must accept his condemnation because we're all sinners in his sight. Thank God for his natural salvation he sent his son to deliver us off ruin not only by the poor but by our own sinners. Well and he loved us not withstanding all our guilt and shame the Saviour died for us blessed be his name and as though there was no one else to save he came in his love to die to save you. I suggest that you tonight respond to his love and say from the heart Lord Jesus I receive you. And say oh God I receive your salvation indeed. I own my sins and I own Jesus as my saviour and let us let us take a moment of silent prayer. Not only have we come to the end of this meeting we've come to the end of this conference and I think we should be making some spiritual decisions before the Lord. The Holy Spirit is tugging at our heartstrings now. Shall I yield? Shall I respond? Will I yield to Christ and his will? Will I humble myself before him that he might exalt me in due time? Will I make the decision now to receive God's salvation? Oh God work on and on and on in our hearts. Give us the grace at this moment to yield. And as we yield to thee and thy holiest time to be our saviour our hearts are finding peace long before. Search our hearts see if there be any wicked way in us and lead us in the way of peace everlasting. Let thy salvation come to this house tonight. May there be decisions spiritual decisions for time and final decisions for eternity as we trust the saviour now. Let us continue in prayer for one moment. While we are praying you pray for yourself and something like this from your heart to the Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus Son of God thank you very much indeed for dying for my sin to take it away. Thank you Lord Jesus very much indeed for taking my place. Thank you for dying to save me from sin. Lord Jesus I thank you. Lord Jesus I trust you. Lord Jesus I love you. Lord Jesus I receive you as my Lord and my saviour now. At this very moment Lord Jesus I receive you as my saviour. Pray that prayer. At this very moment Lord Jesus I receive you as my own personal saviour. So Lord Jesus hear our many prayers in heaven thy dwelling place. Accept of our thanks for all thy goodness to us during these three months and more. For whatever has been to thy servants who conduct this place. And to all the helpers and all the grace given. And all the ministries of thy servant whom thou hast sent from time to time. We acknowledge thy good hands O God. Make us very thankful and very responsive to thy call. Let thy benediction and blessing rest upon this work in the coming days. We pray that those tonight who've made a spiritual decision will be able to make a confession of it openly to the glory of thy name. Those who tonight have decided to receive the Lord Jesus help them to make it known and witness a good confession. So we come to thee with our evening worship and praise for Christ Jesus. The one that thou hast insulted in whom thou art well pleased. The one that thou delightest to honour. We thank thee thou hast honoured him during these conferences. Now honour him in every single life before thee. Now unto him who is able to keep us from falling. To present us faultless before thy presence with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Saviour. To all the honour and the glory and the might and the majesty and power and dominion and blessings both now tonight and evermore. In his name Amen.