They came and went

Now, let's turn in our Bibles, please, to Mark's Gospel and Chapter 10. Mark's Gospel, Chapter 10, and verse number 17. And it was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good, but one that is God.

Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not steal, or do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not. Honor thy father and mother.

And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these things have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor. Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. Now to Matthew's gospel, please.

Matthew's gospel in chapter 26. We'll read first chapter 26 verse number 47. And while he yet spake, Lo Judas, one of the twelve, came and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and elders of the people.

Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he. Hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him.

And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. Now over to chapter 27, please. Verse number three.

Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went, and hanged himself.

Now let's turn to the book of the Acts, please. Chapter 8. Acts chapter 8 will begin at verse number 27. And he arose, this is Philip now, and went.

Behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority under Candice, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot, read Esaias the prophet. Can a person be saved reading Isaiah? I think we already heard tonight, right? Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? He said, How can I accept? Some man should guide me.

And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so he openeth not his mouth.

In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, began at the same scripture, and preached unto him, Jesus. Now, verse number 39.

And when they were come up out of the water, this is after he was baptized, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way, rejoicing. So he went. For the first part of this gospel meeting, we're going to talk about these three different individuals who came and went.

Very simply. Each of them came, each of them went, but all three are very different stories. Very different.

The first man that we read about, he came and he went, and what we could write over his experience really is that that word, reasoning. He was reasoning. He was weighing up the cost of being saved.

That's what he was doing. He was reasoning. And in the experience of Judas, we read there of a man, and he came, and he went, but his experience is characterized by regret.

Regret. But that last man, we love to read of the Ethiopian man, and he came to Jerusalem, and he went. But it says of him, he went on his way, rejoicing.

The first man was reasoning. The second man was regretful. The third man was rejoicing.

Now, we're glad that you've come to the gospel meeting. For many, it's not your first gospel meeting, is it? In fact, I look around and I see some very familiar faces. We've been preaching there for a few weeks, I suppose, in Manchester, and some have been there every night.

You come, and you go. But to this meeting tonight, you have come. But how are you going to leave? Are you going to leave like the young man we read about in Mark chapter 10? Reasoning.

Weighing it up. Perhaps there will be someone here tonight you will leave the gospel meeting having heard the message for the last time. And your experience from here on out will be an existence of regret.

Or you could leave here rejoicing. Let's stop there for a second. Do you believe that you could come into a gospel meeting in your sins on the road to eternal destruction, and because of one moment in time when you trust the Savior, leave and go on your way rejoicing? I believe it.

Could happen tonight. The rich young ruler, we call him sometimes, although I'm not sure if those words are used in Mark's account, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? He came to the right person, didn't he? And he came running. He came with enthusiasm.

He came with good intentions. That's something that I believe each person in the gospel meeting tonight has. Good intentions.

Maybe not intentions of being saved right away. Perhaps not intentions of even being saved in the next couple of years. But if you're honest with me, you totally intend to be saved before you die.

Right? You intend to be saved before eternity. For nobody who has any kind of respect for the gospel and believes it in any way would say that they don't want to be saved ever. And this man had good intentions.

And he's now coming to the Savior. And you wonder what was going through the mind of those who were looking on that day, don't you? Maybe you've never considered it. You see him coming.

There's a young man. There's a young man with great potential to be a mighty disciple for Christ. A young man with great potential to be a follower of the Lord Jesus.

To make his life count for eternity. There's a young man. And you would almost think by his attitude on the outward that he was going to be saved that day.

Be great rejoicing. He's going. He's going to get it.

But the Lord Jesus, unlike any other man, was able to do, could see through the exterior right to the inside. And he looked at the inside and he knew there was something standing in the way of this man actually coming to Christ for salvation. In this case, it was his possessions that he valued more than the Savior.

In fact, it could be said it was his possessions that he valued more than his soul. Some of the work, I believe, in gospel preaching involves wondering what's standing in the way of that young man being saved. It does.

Gospel preachers pray for wisdom, for words to speak. From the outside, it looks like nothing. Young man, lots of potential for God.

Should he be saved? Young man, young woman comes to gospel meetings regularly, growing up in a Christian home where the parents would be thrilled if they were to come home and say, I got saved tonight. Where the parents would be home praying for that boy, that girl. And you wonder, what is it that's holding them back? And quite often, a series of gospel meetings come, a series of gospel meetings go, and the gospel preacher is none the wiser as to what was holding them back from salvation.

But God knows. God knows what it is that you're treasuring in your heart and valuing above your soul. God knows.

God knows that while on the outside, it may look like you're going to get it. God knows that if you don't put salvation first, you will never get it. He knows.

So this man comes. And he comes to the Savior, and the Savior puts his finger on the other side of the cross. And the exact problem that the man has, he was covetous, he was materialistic.

There are different problems in this meeting tonight, aren't there? There are some, while you come to gospel meeting, under your breath, you're saying, I wish I didn't have to go to those gospel meetings. That's rebellion. And God could put his finger on that tonight in your experience, couldn't he? There are others, and while mom and dad don't know, and maybe nobody, no adults know, you value the friendship, or you value the acceptance by your peers more than you value your soul.

You know what I'm saying? What will the boys think? What will the girls think at school if I was to be saved? And God can put his finger right on that tonight. Maybe he's doing that in the gospel meeting, and he's pointing out to you what's standing in the way as the preacher is preaching. And I don't know you, but you're worried about what the girls would think.

What about that boy that I like? What about that girl that I like? For those who are older, maybe it's a relationship that's already been established. And you put more value on that than on your soul. In the Lord Jesus, it says here that he loved him.

He loved him. The heart of the Savior for this man. You know, I believe that the heart of God, in a way, is grieved every time a sinner is given an opportunity to be saved, and they turn away and reject the Savior.

Because he loves you. I believe that what touched the Lord Jesus most of all was knowing this man's going to go. He's come.

He's going to go. He's going to go away. He's going to keep going.

And he's going to keep going until he's gone too far. It's too late. Into a lost eternity.

That would touch the heart of the Savior more than it touches anybody else's heart. For he knows, more than any, what awaits you if you don't get saved. And this man begins to weigh it up in his mind, reasoning.

My soul or the world? My soul or the world? You can just see the wheels turning, can't you, as he leaves the Lord Jesus. My soul or the world? And we read that he went. But we never read that he came back.

Quite a serious thing, really. As we look at Judas and his experience, we're saddened again, aren't we? Judas was a man who had tremendous opportunity. Judas was a man who got to see, not only see the Lord Jesus face-to-face and spend time with him, but he's a man who actually kissed the face of Christ.

Judas is a man who, although he would spend time with the Christians, and although he would move around with the Christians, was a man who really had no time for Christ. Really. He had no time for the things of God.

He was a very selfish man, characterized by covetousness, always going out for the things of himself. If ever there was a day where that was encouraged, it's today, isn't it? I'm not saying that today the heart of man is worse than it was 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 years ago. That's not what I'm saying.

What I'm saying is that society encourages this selfish attitude. Not only is it acceptable to do everything so that you're happy, but it's encouraged. And if you're not happy, get rid of them.

And if things aren't going well, quit. It's all about you. That's Judas.

It's all about him. And when he saw opportunity to make some money, he said, now's my chance. So many times Judas could have been saved, had opportunity.

But he just wasn't concerned. Is that you? Just not really bothered by this. Oh, you come to the conference.

Thank you for coming. And you know Christians, but the message of the gospel and the claims of God against you because of your sin and eternal punishment for sin, it just doesn't bother you. Judas just wasn't all that concerned.

Then he made the transaction. And it says here, in the garden, one of the twelve, Judas, came. He came.

He came with really an ulterior motive. What do I mean by that? He wasn't being honest. But he came.

Not honest. He came. He kissed the face of Christ.

They took him. The Lord Jesus says, friend. Friend.

Again, we see the heart of the Savior. Even toward this man. This man who had been so deceptive.

This man who had been so selfish. This man who was a sinner. The Lord Jesus treats him with compassion and tenderness when he says, friend.

Friend. You can almost hear in the voice of the Savior that grief. Not really because Judas had done this.

But because Judas was going to miss salvation. Judas was going out. He wasn't ready.

It says that he came. But in chapter 27, we read he went to these men. And he said, I have sinned, for I betrayed the innocent blood.

You know what they said? What's that to us, Judas? See thou to that. You know what they were saying in other words? We don't care. That's your problem.

Some here tonight may be neglecting their soul's salvation because of a boy or because of a girl or because of the boys at school, the girls at school. Could be right. I probably am right.

There's coming a day when you'll realize when you'll realize that the price that you have accepted for your soul is not worth it. That's what Judas realized. It's not worth it.

And then you may even turn to these people, these people whose opinion you once valued and try and talk to them about it. And no doubt you'll hear the same response. Not my problem.

You deal with it. And it says that Judas he went and he hanged himself. He came dishonestly and he went.

What a regretful experience isn't it? To have to exist for all eternity knowing the decision that he had made and now it's too late. Then we find this man in chapter eight. Acts chapter eight is a great story.

It's a good news story. Like the stories we were hearing tonight from our brethren of how they were saved. It says he had come to Jerusalem for to worship this man.

He was an officer. He was in charge of the treasury. I don't know what you call that down in the United States.

We call him the finance minister back home. He was in church. He had a good job.

He had lots of money. You know what he found? Even having a good job and lots of money does not satisfy. And no doubt he would have tried all the religions back in his home country only to find out that religion doesn't satisfy.

And now he has come. It says he come to Jerusalem to find out what the Jewish religion was all about. And he had come to Jerusalem and learned all about it.

Perhaps even initiated into the system that was the Jewish or Israelitish system of worship. And he's leaving now only to have found out that that was empty. Nothing to satisfy.

Sometimes I think the hardest thing to convey to young people is this. There is a world out there. Big world.

And it's full of things. And it's full of pleasures. Full of sin.

But nothing in that world satisfies. Nothing. And now he's in his chariot and he has a Bible on his knee.

Still not saved by the way. Still not saved. And God instructs Philip to pull up to that chariot or to come up to that chariot.

And he says to the man, understandest thou what thou readest? The Ethiopian man says, how can I accept that some man should guide me? What an honest seeker. Wasn't he? Honest. Heard from our brother tonight.

He thought he knew everything. He found out he didn't. It is very common for sinners to walk into a gospel meeting, listen to the gospel and leave again without even thinking that maybe I'm going to hear something that I never heard before.

Yeah, because you think you know it all. Well you don't. This man was honest enough to say, I don't know.

I don't know. And Philip saw where he was reading. It says it was in Isaiah the prophet.

Really it's Isaiah chapter 53. But he would have read all the chapters leading up to that, no doubt. There are no chapters, I know.

But he would have read all of the book of Isaiah leading up to that and found out all of the things that Isaiah said about sin and a Savior that was going to come into the world. And now he's in chapter 53 and he starts to read about the Lord Jesus, the perfect servant of Jehovah and how his character would shine through suffering and how he would be characterized as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and how the work of Christ would be brought out so plainly and clearly on the pages of Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. And he says, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, of some other man. And Philip began right there.

You know what he preached, didn't he? He preached unto him Jesus. And after years and years of searching for something that satisfies this man finds Christ. He was saved.

He's in heaven. He's in heaven tonight. Yeah.

Judas isn't. That rich man who came to the Lord Jesus in all likelihood isn't. But this Ethiopian man is.

And we read, of course, that he came. He had come to Jerusalem only to find out that the religion was empty. But what a great phrase here.

And he went. And he went on his way rejoicing. Rejoicing.

Can I tell you? There's no other way to leave a real encounter with the Lord Jesus being saved other than rejoicing. Oh, I know, I know what our brother said was 100% right. Satan will try his best to knock that out of you right off the bat.

He will. But when you come to grips with the fact I now have Him. I have Him.

And He that hath the Son hath life. And I'm going to be in heaven forever. He went on His way rejoicing in His sins forgiven.

So the first man came. He went away reasoning, weighing it up. The second man came.

He went away in regret, having made the wrong decision. To this third man he came. And he went away, or went on His way rejoicing, having found Christ.