Ernest Wakefield 1965

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.

No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Number 32. Wipe away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Christ today, in God's salvation sea, yields soul and body, heart and will to him who died for thee. The first and last verse is 21. Luke's Gospel, chapter 23, verse 33.

Luke 23, verse 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. 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 and 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 be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

If we were to turn to the other three Gospels tonight, we would see that there were three crosses that stood at Calvary, and in the Gospel of John it says that Jesus was in the midst. The cross of Christ stood in the midst, in the center of these two thieves, these two malefactors, these two men who represent tonight, I believe, every man and woman in this world. These two men stand as representatives of the whole human race tonight.

And the cross of Christ has divided this world into two classes. And only two classes, my friends, only two. The word of God doesn't tell us about a third class.

Only two classes. Every man, every woman, every boy and every girl in this room tonight stands on one side of the cross of Christ. You can't get away from it.

You can't dodge it. You can't stand on neutral ground. You stand on one side of the cross or the other.

On the left side, you stand with those on the way to hell. On the right side, you stand on those on the way to heaven. And there's no other way, no other section, no other crowd, saved or lost tonight.

As you sit in that chair, you're saved or lost. Tonight, we'd like to bring before you seven things about this thief. But before I do so, I'd like to bring you into the very presence of God.

You know, my friend, you'll never get blessed. You'll never get saved. You'll never get right with God until you come into his presence, until you're brought face to face with eternal realities.

First of all, you're a sinner. You know you're a sinner. I was speaking to a young lady recently, and I said to her, Do you believe you're a sinner? And she said, I know I'm a sinner.

My friend, God says you are a sinner. He says there's no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

That means you. It means me. And happy is the man or woman, happy is the boy or girl who's discovered on this side of eternity that they're a sinner.

And happy, my friends, is the man or woman or boy or girl who finds out on this side of eternity that they're a lost sinner, that they're a dead sinner, that they're a hell-bound sinner, unless they come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so tonight we'd like to bring you face to face with eternal realities. We sang in our hymn, Decide for Christ, today.

And I want to, if I may use the title of this gospel message as Decision for Christ, Decision for Christ. Everybody in this room tonight has either made their decision or has not made their decision. Everybody in this room tonight is either for Christ or against Christ.

I speak plainly, my friends. I speak without fear of rebuke. Tonight you're either on the side of God or you're on the side of the devil, and there's no middle ground.

There is no neutral stand. You may have a godly mother or godly father, as we heard in the faithful message last night our brother preached. You may have a godly home, but if you've never yet come to Christ, you're lost, just as lost as the man in the jail, just as lost as the man who's drunk, just as lost as the blasphemer, the most wicked man in this world.

You're lost tonight. And the Lord Jesus said, He that believeth not shall be damned. What a solemn thing.

Friends, we live in a wishy-washy day. We live in a day when, sad to say, men who used to preach the faithful gospel are now putting on the soft pedal. They say, We can't preach about hell because we won't be popular.

And people don't like to hear about it. They like to hear about the love of God. They don't like to hear about hell or judgment.

But I say tonight, my friends, that never in the word of God in the New Testament did anybody speak more of hell than the Lord Jesus himself. He warned men to flee. He said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Recently I was speaking to a person who said, Do you believe there's a hell? And we said to them, It's not a question of what I believe. It's a question of what God says. God says there's a hell.

God says there's judgment coming. God says that man will be under that judgment for eternity without Christ. Who am I? Who are you? Who, my friend, is the infidel or the atheist or the modernistic preacher? To dare to stand up and say there's no hell when God says, solemnly says, there is a hell.

When the Lord Jesus solemnly preached that there was a hell, who are we, poor worms of the dust, sinners saved by the grace of God to sop, peddle the gospel? My friend, there's salvation tonight for you. We heard last night that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I say again that the cross of Christ has divided this world into two classes.

Tonight you stand on one side of the cross or the other. Tonight you stand on the right side or the wrong side. The cross has divided this world.

The cross has divided homes. The cross has divided offices. The cross has divided loved ones.

The cross, the cross of Christ, has separated this world into two great camps, heavenbound or hellbound, on the side of God or on the side of the devil. My friends, it's not popular, but it's true. The Lord Jesus said you cannot serve two masters.

He said nothing about a third. Why? Because there's not three, there's only two. Oh, my friends, are you saved tonight? Let me earnestly ask you.

Let me solemnly bring you into the presence of God now. Let me ask you as we've often asked, and I'm sure the Christians in this room will bear with us. You've heard these things before.

It's the old story we've heard hundreds of times. When the preacher opens his Bible in Montreal, we've heard this story hundreds of times. It's nothing new.

It's the old story, ever new. Let me solemnly ask you tonight, if you were a corpse now, if your body was cold and still and silent tonight, now, right now, in the undertaker's parlor, if the flowers decked your casket, if the funeral notice was in the paper, I ask you in God's name, where would your soul be now? Now. It'll be too late, my friends, too late to make a decision for Christ then.

You must make your decision in time. You must make your decision in this Christ-rejecting world. You must make your decision in the world that crucified the Son of God.

You must make your decision now, not in the future eternity. There is no second chance. There's no purgatory.

My friends, I speak solemnly for God tonight. I say there is no second chance. The Lord Jesus said, if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sins.

And where I am there ye cannot come. Who said it? Christ said it. Christ said it, my friends.

Ye cannot come. What a solemn thing. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Son of God, the only man who never told a lie.

Ye cannot come if ye die in your sins. And if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. And where I am there ye cannot come.

Friends, it's solemn, isn't it? But it's true. Without Christ there's hell for every child of Adam's race, regardless of religion, creed, or color. Without Christ there's no salvation.

Without Christ and his death on Calvary's cross, his resurrection and his precious blood, there's absolutely no salvation for any child of Adam's race. And so to make it simple, it's Christ or hell, my friends. You must decide for or against Christ.

Seven points about this man who was condemned to death. First of all, he was just like you and me. He was a man.

Second, he was a sinner. And the third place, he had come under the judgment of the Roman government, and he was condemned to death. And he is the only deathbed repentance mentioned in the word of God.

He's the only man who on his deathbed, which was a cross, turned to Christ, and he received mercy. He was a sinner, my friends. He was just like you and me.

He was no better. He was no worse. He was a sinner.

And he was nailed to a cross. And first of all, the first thing we notice about this man is in verse 40. In the 39th verse, his companion railed on him.

In the other Gospels, we find they both railed on Christ. As Mr. Darby's translation, I believe, says, they both insulted him. Think of it.

But something happened to this man. Something happened to the man on the right side of the cross, and I believe that the word of God brought light to his soul. I believe this man saw the light, and he had the Scriptures.

He only had two verses, but he had the word of God in these two verses. The first verse was the very prayer of Jesus. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

The second verse was nailed over the cross. This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This robber, he saw one verse, he heard the other verse, and he believed them both.

And the entrance of thy word giveth light. And he found there was a man on the cross who could pray for his enemies. He himself, no doubt, would desire to kill them all, all his tormentors, all those who dared to put him on the cross.

He would like to get down and kill them all, one by one. But here was a man who was praying for his enemies. He was in the presence of God, my friends.

He realized it. He was in the presence of God. He was brought there in the presence of God.

God allowed it. The devil, to insult the Lord Jesus, had him nailed between two thieves. But the blessed Lord Jesus had his eye on that robber.

And unsaved friend, the Lord Jesus has his eye on you tonight. Young man, young lady, you heard last night of your mother's prayers and your father's prayers. The Lord Jesus has his eye on you to bless you.

He wants to save you. Isn't it wonderful? God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so this man, first of all, in verse 40, he came into the fear of God.

He said, verse 40, Thus not thou fear God. Friends, we live in a godless age. I don't suppose there's ever been an age like this age, a godless age.

People tell me mockingly, it's the old world turning over. It's the old world, the same old story. It's not true, my friends.

I believe we live in the most ungodly age since God created man. Tonight is the most ungodly age. And there's no fear of God.

Men do not fear God. Men blaspheme God. Men mock God.

Men laugh at God. And recently in our papers we had a story of a man who was even written that the Lord Jesus planned his own crucifixion. What a solemn thing.

Planned his own crucifixion, took advantage of the scriptures in the Old Testament to make believe he was the Messiah. Well, man doesn't fear God. There's no fear of God before their eyes.

And my friend, tonight I want to ask you, do you fear God? Last night, if you're not saved, you went to bed. You shut your eyes. You slept through the night.

While you were sleeping, your heart was beating. If during that sleep your heart had stopped beating, you would be in eternity now. Eternity.

You would say, there is a God. There is a God. The Bible was true.

And I'm lost. I'm lost for eternity. Think of it.

What a solemn, this is solemn, isn't it? This man feared God. And the fear of God is the very beginning of wisdom. God says, get wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This man was brought to this place. He said, dost not thou fear God? Young man, young lady, old man, old lady, I ask you, do you fear God tonight? Dost not thou fear God? Well, that was the first thing.

He was brought into the presence of God. He feared God. And while he might, he was on his way to eternity.

Death faced him. Oh, my friends, men will mock when they're healthy. Men will mock when the doctor says, oh, you're healthy, you're strong, nothing wrong with your heart.

You're good for 20 more years. Then man can sneer and mock at God. But, my friends, when death stares you in the face and you hear the solemn verdict, three months to live, three months at the very most to live, you're face to face with eternal realities.

The word of God says it's appointed unto man once to die after death, the judgment. What a solemn thing. And so this man feared God.

In the second place, in the end of the 40th verse, he says, See thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly. The next thing he did was he owned that he deserved this punishment. He deserved it.

He took the place of one who deserved this punishment. In other words, he owned he was a sinner. He owned he deserved this judgment.

My friends tonight, have you ever found out you're a sinner? I don't ask you, is your neighbor a sinner? I don't ask you if your boss, your schoolteacher, your principal, your doctor, your dentist, I ask you, have you found out on your knees before God that you are a sinner, that you're vile, that you're a sinner? You were born that way. Man goeth astray, says God, from the womb. He's born with his back turned against God, and he starts for hell full speed, full speed.

Unless he comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, my friends, the only Savior that God has for sinners, he'll perish surely. He'll perish. Oh, it's a solemn thing, isn't it? It's a very solemn thing to stand here and tell you this.

You know, my friends, the devil is so clever, he's so clever that he even has men standing up in pulpits, standing up in platforms, saying the Bible is not the Word of God. You don't have to believe it. You don't need to be born again, they're saying.

It's old-fashioned stuff. We don't believe it in this enlightened, modern, 20th century of brain power, where everybody's educated. We don't need that, says the devil.

Tonight I bring you back to divine realities, eternal realities, face-to-face with God, face-to-face with God's truth, face-to-face with eternity, face-to-face with heaven or hell. I bring you these solemn realities. You have to stand in the presence of God.

My friends, do you fear God? Have you yet found you're a sinner? Do you say, I deserve this justly? I deserve to have the justice of God in this wrath poured upon me? What's the next thing he says? Verse 41, For we receive the due reward of our deeds. What a wonderful confession. We receive, and I'm sure there's every Christian in this room tonight who knows anything about the Bible, anything about the grace of God, will say, I deserve to go to hell.

Friends, by the grace of God the preacher says it. I deserve to go to hell. But thank God the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary bore my sins in his own body on the tree.

He received from God's hand the judgment that I deserve. The punishment of God poured down upon Christ. Blow after blow struck the Savior.

My sins were laid on his sacred head. The curse by my Lord was born. He loves you, my friends.

He loves you. Oh, isn't it wonderful that God loves you? And we said before, we say it again in that wonderful verse that Jesus said, John 3, 16. I like to think of it as if the Lord Jesus, and I say this reverently, as if he said, I can't tell about God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Those are the words of the Son of God, my friends, wonderful words. The Son of God said them. My Savior, the Lord Jesus, said them.

He again, he said, he that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not, oh, sinner, friend, are you here tonight? He that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world.

And men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. What a solemn thing. The next thing he says, in the end of the 41st verse, but this man hath done nothing amiss.

What a wonderful revelation. What a wonderful thing. He spoke well of Christ.

Oh, he condemned himself, and that's what repentance is. Repentance, you know, is not crying and weeping and falling down on your knees and crying and weeping and just crying and crying and crying. No, my friends, that may be remorse.

But repentance before God has taken sides with God against yourself. This man did that. He condemned himself, and he spoke well of Christ.

This man hath done nothing amiss. Isn't it wonderful? He spoke well of Christ. Have you ever spoken well of Christ? Did you ever speak well of Christ in this world? Oh, young gospel preachers tonight, we appeal to you, dear young brothers who are growing up, some of you 20, some of you 25, some of you 30.

If the Lord doesn't come soon, the older brethren are going to disappear into glory. You're going to be left here, and your responsibility, young brothers, is to preach the gospel of the grace of God, not remove the landmarks, as we heard yesterday, not turn away from the Bible, not say, oh, well, that was all right in the 19th century, but not today, my dear young brothers. Stand faithful for the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Preach the gospel that there's a Savior on high in the glory, a dear, loving Savior, though our friends be few. How few they are, my friends. Many are called, said Jesus, but few are chosen.

The mass, my friends, tonight. I believe the large crowd are on the broad road to destruction. Every one of us who are saved tonight are saved by the grace of God.

We have nothing to boast in, nothing to glory in, save a Savior slain on the cross of Calvary, whose precious blood cleanses from all sin. He spoke well of Christ. Oh, as we read these words, he spoke well of Christ.

I ask you, young men, what about you? Have you ever spoken well of Christ? I know, young men, they follow the athletes of this world. They speak well of the great baseball players, the great hockey players, the great prize fighters. But I ask you tonight, young man, did you ever speak well of Christ? This man did.

He cleared the whole life of the Son of God. How did he know? I believe he only met the Lord Jesus that day. He probably never saw him before.

And yet he clears his whole life. This man hath done nothing amiss. Oh, my friends, isn't it wonderful in the word of God that the Apostles Paul, Peter, and John all say, He hath done no sin.

He knew no sin. A threefold cord is not easily broken. God testifies three times by three of his Apostles that this man hath done nothing amiss.

And here's this robber on the cross, and he speaks well of Christ. This man hath done nothing amiss. To say these words, my friends, he had to take issue against the Pharisees, the great leaders of religion of that day, the scribes and the Pharisees.

If we had asked those sneering hypocrites below the cross, What do you think of this man on the center cross? They would have said he's an imposter. We don't believe in him at all. He casts out demons by bells above the Prince of Demons.

But here's a robber on the cross. He says this man hath done nothing amiss. He spoke well of Christ.

And tonight, my friends, I say this for the benefit of those who are young Christians. We must speak out faithfully against the religious world. We must speak out about the scribes and Pharisees of this country and the country of the North, the modernistic preachers who were the Pharisees of 1965, the Pharisees who deny the Word of God.

You and I as Christians must speak out against these men who speak blasphemous things against our Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God. It's time, as a young Christian said to me in Montreal two weeks ago, it's time we woke up and took issues with these blasphemers who dare to deny the Word of God. The Pharisees of 1965 are the modernist preachers, the modernistic preachers who say the Bible's not true.

As a dear brother told me today, one of them told him when he asked him, and it was a young man, this was years ago, you see, asked him about the new birth. He put his hand on his shoulders and said, Never mind that stuff. You don't need to be born again.

I say these modernistic preachers are the Pharisees of the 20th century. But this robber, he said, This man hath done nothing amiss. He spoke well of Jesus.

Oh, will you speak well of Jesus tonight? He loves you. Oh, what love he had. Just imagine.

He himself said, Greater loveth no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And then I like to think of him saying, I'll prove a greater love. I'll die for my enemies.

I'll give my life for those who hate me, for those who reject me, for those who despise me. He gave his life for his enemies. He loves you, my friends.

Let me say again and again, God has blocked the road to hell by the cross of Christ. Will you go to hell? You must pass the cross. Oh, my friends, the cross, the glorious cross.

There's no place like the cross where Jesus died, where he suffered and bled and gave his life for sinners. He's the sinner's friend. You know, you might commit some crime.

You wouldn't want the police to know. You wouldn't want your father to know. You wouldn't want your mother to know.

Who would you tell? Who would you tell? Only one. Who is it? The sinner's friend. The friend of sinners.

Jesus, the sinner's friend. Your mother may say, I'm ashamed of you. Your father may disown you.

But Jesus puts out his arms and says, Come, I love you. No matter what you've done, all your sins lay great mountains all around you. I love you just the same.

I died for you. I prove my love. I'm the sinner's friend.

Oh, sinner's friend. Think of it. The sinner's friend.

Are you a sinner tonight? Jesus is your friend. He loves you. He wants to save you.

He wants to take your sins away. He can wash them all away in his precious blood. But he died for you, my friends.

He loves you. What a Savior Jesus is. Oh, what love, what grace is his.

The next thing we find in this verse is the 42nd verse. And he said unto Jesus, Lord. Isn't that wonderful? He called Jesus his Lord.

God says in Romans 10 and 9, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That's what God says. Jesus is Lord.

Who is Jesus? The despised Nazarene, despised by this world. God says, I've exalted that man to the very highest heaven. He's Lord.

I've made him both Lord and Christ. If you will confess with that mouth of yours Jesus as Lord, and believe in that heart of yours that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved on the authority of God himself. What higher authority can you get? Well, the robber turns to Christ and he says, Lord.

What does he say next? He says, Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Well, that's the fifth point. He calls him Lord.

The sixth point, he speaks about his kingdom. What faith is this? Here's a man. Let us try to look back those 2,000 years to the cross.

See his hands. They're bleeding. They're nailed to a cross.

His feet are torn by the nails and bleeding. There he hangs with a crown of thorns across his head. His face is covered with spit.

His back is broken and bleeding by the Roman scourge. There he is hanging, a sight for God and for angels, for men, for the devil and for demons to look upon. And this man says, Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

Did this lowly, despised, hated man have a kingdom? Oh, the robber's eyes look beyond the cross. Look beyond that wondrous cross and that glorious Savior hanging upon the cross. Oh, what a sight, my friends, bleeding and bruised, bleeding and bruised under the cruel tortures of those creatures whom he came to save.

He left the heavens, as we heard last night, came down past the angels into this world, and here they were spitting on him, beating him, taking their God-given strength and punching him in the face. And they bruised and broke his face. Oh, how solemn.

I'm often told the story. I want to tell it again. But one night I stood in the old Mount Royal Arena in Montreal, and I saw a man come out of the prize ring.

I stood right beside him, three feet from him. His face was bruised and beaten. I'll never forget his face.

His face was bruised and beaten, my friends, by the punches of his opponent. There he came down the stairs. His face was broken and bleeding.

And I've often thought of my precious Savior, his face more admired than any man. Beaten under the cruel tortures of his creatures, he came to save. Oh, my friends, here was the robber saying, Lord, remember me.

His friends said, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But this man in faith says, knowing that salvation is personal, he says, remember me. This me.

Nobody else but me. Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Here the Savior and the sinner were brought together.

Here was the joy of the Savior's heart in all his sorrow and his misery, his pain, his agony. Here was the Savior's joy, the joy of Calvary, when this poor robber turned. I like to think of it.

I've often said it before. Let me say it again. Mr. Modernist, what could you do for the robber? What could you do, Mr. Modernist preacher, for the robber? Come, Mr. Pharisee, and tell us what you would do for the robber.

What could you say? Go to church? Live a good life? Keep the Ten Commandments? Do the best you can? Turn over a new leaf? Too late, my friends. This man needed a Savior. Jesus was the Savior.

Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. What does Christ say to this robber? What a challenge, my friends. What would he say to this robber? Sinner friend, isn't this wonderful news for you? I remember when my sins bothered me.

I remember when the gates of hell seemed to be opening up for me to enter in. I remember when the judgment of God seemed like a great mountain to crush me into hell. I remember hearing the story of Jesus and his love.

Hearing the story of the love of Christ, the melting love of Christ, is told unto the cross. Oh, my friends, what would Jesus say to this sinner, this robber, this thief? Unfit for society, unfit for society, unfit for the Roman governor, unfit for the Pharisees and scribes, but fit for Jesus, fit for Christ, fit for heaven. Ah, hear the Savior.

I love to think of it as he turns and says, Verily I say unto thee, a personal Savior. He speaks to the robber. He says, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

Because God's a giving God. The man asks for the kingdom. Christ says, no, I'll give you something better than the kingdom.

I'll give you myself, my company in paradise. Not in a future day for the kingdom. The kingdom hasn't come yet after two thousand years nearly have rolled by.

Jesus said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. A robber and a Savior together. A robber and the Son of God.

My friends, what a wonderful thing this is. A robber and Jesus together in paradise. That very day, not tomorrow, not ten years hence, not after being punished in some other place, a third place for ten or twenty or thirty years.

No, my friends, this very day, this very day, thou shalt be with me in paradise. I like to think of the robber as he hung upon that for the seventh point, I believe it was this, is the assurance this man had, the assurance he had. I like to think of the Pharisees as they would pass by and say to that robber, listen mister, you're going into eternity.

You've only got a little while to live. What about your soul? What about the hereafter? Where are you going to be? Hadn't you better give some money? Hadn't you better tell us where your loot is hidden so we can get your money and get you into heaven? I like to think of the robber looking down and smiling and saying, oh my friend, the man on the center cross has given me assurance. The man on the center cross has told me that today I'll be with him in paradise, and I believe it.

I know it's true. The man has assured me, the man of Calvary, the man of the center cross has assured me that today I'll be with him in paradise. Oh, isn't it wonderful, my friends? Tonight, what about you? Where are you going? Are you on your way to heaven? Are your sins forgiven? Have you come under the cleansing power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ shed upon the cross of Calvary? Have you ever yet decided to receive him as your Savior? Does Christ live in your heart? Are you born again? I was speaking to a party the other day, and they said, yes, I'm a Christian.

And we said to them, what kind of a Christian are you? Because remember, remember, that nearly everybody says they're a Christian, unless you're a Jew. They all say they're Christians. I said, what kind of a Christian are you? Are you a born-again Christian? My friend, I ask you, are you a born-again Christian? Have you been born again, born from above? Have you received that life from God? Well, it went along with our story.

The Lord Jesus, after this wonderful revelation to this man, this man had this assurance. First of all, he had the fear of God. Second, he took his place before God as a sinner.

Third, he spoke well of Christ. Fourth, he called Jesus Lord. Fifth, he spoke of the kingdom.

Sixth, he had that assurance. And seventh, he believed it. He believed the message.

He believed the words of Jesus. That settles it. It doesn't matter what the preacher says.

It doesn't matter very much what the preacher says. If Jesus says it, oh, isn't it wonderful, my friends? Think of the very words of Christ. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.

Now, we have these seven things about this robber. Let me tell you, we have the love of Christ, the mighty love of Christ. He loves you.

He gave himself for you. But I want to ask you now, maybe tonight there's somebody in this room that's coming off the street. Maybe you've never heard the gospel before.

Oh, we who are Christians, we say, how is that possible? How is it possible? I want to tell you, my friends, there's multitudes of people right here in Detroit who've never heard the gospel. You say, is it possible? Yes, it's possible. It's possible.

I remember, if you'll pardon the personal reference, there's a young man going to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, 52 times a year, twice two, 104 times. I never heard the gospel. We heard sermons about politicians.

We heard sermons about other great men. We heard how to live a good life. We heard flowery sermons about education and the value of getting money in the bank and being insured and all that, but never heard the gospel, never heard that by one simple look of faith to Christ, my sins would be gone for eternity, praise God, under the power of the blood of Jesus Christ the Lord.

My friend, tonight you can be saved. You can leave this hall in the authority of the word of God that your sins are gone forever, forever gone forever, never to be brought back again, never, never, never. And we look forward with joy to the day in that glorious place above when we meet the robber, when we meet the robber.

Oh, I have often thought of the robber as we walk that eternal street of gold and meet the robber and say, Oh, my dear brother, often I preached about you. Often I told sinners how you got saved. Tell me, my friend.

Tell me the story again. Tell me the story of the cross. And the robber will stop and his face will light up as he tells the story of the cross.

And when he comes to the part where he said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, and he says with joy in his face, eternal joy, you should have seen his face when he said those words, truly I say unto you, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. I like to think of the robber saying, Oh, brother, I'll never forget the look of joy in my master's face when he said those words, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And then together, I say by the grace of God, together with the robber we'll bow in adoration and worship at the Savior's feet.

For, praise God, the robber's Savior is my Savior too. The robber's Savior is my Savior too. Is the robber's Savior your Savior too? Oh, tonight God loves you.

Dear young man, young lady who has a Christian mother and father, this is solemn. I know as you leave this room tonight the devil will try to rob this from you. I know he'll tell you, don't believe it.

Oh, just wait until tomorrow night. Tomorrow night come back again. You have another chance.

Why, tomorrow is the Lord's Day. This is Saturday night, a night of joy and happiness. Forget about this question.

That's what the devil will say. I want to solemnly warn you as I tell this story, so solemn. This young lady who went to the gospel meeting many times under the urge and pleas and prayers of her mother, who prayed for her soul and her father, who wept on his knees for their daughter, who rejected Christ.

And she went and went and went again and again and again to the gospel meeting. And she said no to Christ. No, no, I won't receive it.

One morning she said, Mother, I had a strange dream last night. And in my dream it seemed as if God Himself spoke to my soul. God Himself spoke to my soul.

And He said, young lady, I want you to take your Bible. I want you to turn to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 7, verses 8 and 9, and read those two verses. And then she said, My dream seemed to leave me and I went to sleep again.

But again the voice said, Ezekiel 7, verses 8 and 9. And again the third time, Ezekiel 7, verses 8 and 9. And her mother said, My daughter, did you read the verses? She said, Mother, I'm afraid to read them. I'm afraid. Will you please read them to me? These are the verses from the Word of God, Ezekiel 7, verses 8 and 9. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee and accomplish mine anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways, will recompense thee for all thine abominations, and mine eyes shall not spare.

Neither will I have pity. I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thy abominations that are in the midst of thee, and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth. The mother read these verses in fear and trembling, and she looked back to the bed to her daughter, and she was in eternity.

She was in eternity. Oh, dear young man with a Christian mother, young lady with a Christian mother, I solemnly warn you that you are playing a losing game. You will lose your soul.

What can this world give you? Six feet of ground, a casket with a cover on it, and that cover will open when that voice of God calls you to meet Him in the air. Meet Him there standing in space where the heavens and the earth fled away. You'll stand before the great white throne Oh, tonight Jesus raises His hands.

There are the nail prints. There are the nail prints. Jesus is a Savior.

He loves you. He longs to save you. God waits.

Heaven waits. Angel hosts are musing. O'er this sight so strangely sad, God beseeching, man refusing to be made forever glad.

Young man, tonight you're on the losing side. You're on the losing side of the cross. Oh, I say come.

Bow your knees to the lowly Jesus. Accept Him as your Savior. And know on the authority of the word of God that you're saved for eternity.

God loves you. Christ died for you. The blood of Christ has power to cleanse from all sin.

Will you say yes or will you say no? There is no neutrality. If you leave that room tonight, you're either on the side of Christ or the devil. You're either saved or lost.

You're either heaven bound or hell bound. There's no third place. My friend, tonight will you receive Christ.