Serious

I have to admit that question is on my mind tonight. Will you never serious be? My wife called me in tears today. She wanted to know the lines of a poem but behind it was the story of a young girl, 16 years old.

She heard the gospel this summer. Her mother doesn't want her. She's caused her so much grief.

My wife has a heart and a longing for her salvation. She needs it. There's so many confusing issues in life that sometimes distract us and perhaps tonight some of you don't have those same issues to face and you're still trifling with the greatest gift that could ever be given.

Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn please to the gospel of Mark chapter 8. The gospel of Mark chapter 8 and we're going to read verse 36. Mark's gospel chapter 8 and verse 36.

For what shall it profit a man? What could a person possibly gain? What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Something to be serious about. Your soul. Turn please to the gospel of John chapter 8. The gospel of John chapter 8 verse 21.

John 8 verse 21. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, I go away and ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whither I go ye cannot come.

Verse 24. I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins for if you believe not that I'm he ye shall die in your sins. Verse 34.

Jesus answered them verily verily it's true it's true I say unto you whosoever commit a sin is the servant the bond slave of sin. Something to be serious about. Your sin.

One more please in the gospel of in the book of Acts chapter 10. The book of Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10 and we're going to read it verse 22.

Break into the story about a most remarkable man in our Bible a man named Cornelius. Acts chapter 10 and verse 22. And they said Cornelius the centurion a just man and one that fears God of good report among all the nation of the Jews was was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house and to hear words from thee.

Down please to verse 33. As Simon or Peter comes to speak to Cornelius it says in verse 33 immediately therefore I sent to thee. God warned him and immediately he sent for Peter.

Thou hast well done that thou art come now therefore are we all here present before God in the sight of God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Then Peter opened his mouth and so on. Down please to verse 42.

And he commanded us. That's serious for me. He commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be judge of quick or living and dead to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission the clearing away of sins.

Something to be serious about. Salvation. Trust that God will help as we would open his precious word together.

Are you serious about your soul tonight? Will you say I understand I have a need and I understand that at some point in my life yes I want to be ready for heaven and yes I'm concerned but that's the problem right there. Dean Webster was a young man I knew. His father was a believer in the Lord Jesus a fairly wealthy man.

And his father was a witness to the grace of God and tried to lead others to the Savior but Dean his own son resisted the gospel. Came a time when he knew his father could well afford to give him a big gift and he asked his father for a motorcycle. He begged him for it.

His father yielded and gave it to him and that father never would have given it if he had known what I know now. And that boy would never have asked for it if he had known what I know now. It happened on a beautiful day.

Dean was riding up the hill towards the town that he lived in and there was somebody ahead of him and he seemed to be going too slow and Dean let out all the power of that machine and swung around him but he didn't see the oncoming traffic. You say how could that be? I don't know. Do you see what might lie in your future? He never saw the oncoming car.

It struck him he was hurled into the ditch both legs severed right about the hip. It just happened they said that the ambulance was coming up the hill towards the hospital at that very moment. They very quickly went into action and grabbed hold of that boy and took him immediately to the hospital where the very doctor that brought Dean into the world was on duty.

No one could have had more care or concern for him. No one knew him better than he did and he struggled to save that boy's life. His father arrived at the hospital.

You can imagine what he was thinking. He drew near to the operating room door and the doctor just glanced up for a moment. He saw him there.

He knew the signs. He knew the dad. He went and he said you might as well go in there isn't anything more we can do.

And that father went in and he looked down into the face of his son and that boy said the last words he ever said. He said dad I'm not ready to die but he died. If you had been that doctor you probably would have felt the tremendous futility and frustration of trying and doing all that you could do and it's not enough.

I wonder what you would think as you watch that boy who had so much potential. As you looked at that boy who seemed to have the whole world by the tail and every opportunity presented itself and you can't stop him from going out into eternity. If you had been his dad, any of you dads here know what he'd be thinking? Any of you understand the awful pain that would grip him as he watched his son and he heard him say dad I'm not ready to die.

But for a moment can you imagine being Dean? Never thought it would get to this point. Always thought surely at some point he'd have time to get ready. And now he's at the very door of eternity and he's saying those unbelievable words.

Dad I'm not ready to die. Are you serious about your soul? Listen to the language of the Lord Jesus. What shall profit a man if he shall gain the whole world? Suppose you had it all but you lost your soul.

God gave us what we have. We read that the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and he breathed into him the breath of life. God gave him what he had and God gave him all the skills and the abilities to sort his way through life as He might, but it's a forever thing.

When life ends, your soul is going to be somewhere, either in heaven or hell. Are you serious about your soul? Are you serious about your sins? The Lord Jesus spoke about people in John's Gospel chapter 8, and He says, you'll die in your sins. And where I am, you cannot come.

Imagine. Maybe you always thought, I'll be there. Yes, at some point in my life I'll get down, and I will get this, and I will have it settled, and I'll be ready to meet God.

Maybe some of them did, too. And the Lord Jesus said, you're going to die in your sins, and where I am, you cannot come. Oh, the tremendous seriousness of our sins.

Sins in the eyes of a holy God. Sin makes you a slave. We read about it here.

And sin's slavery has not been abolished. And it still has control, and it has dominion over you. Oh, you think you can handle sin.

And you don't know. You're in the very bonds of iniquity. Sin has a grip upon you.

You can't seem to let it go, and reach out, and get this great matter settled. Are you serious? Are you in earnest tonight? What about your soul? What about where you will spend all eternity? The Lord Jesus tells us so clearly. They would die in their sins, and where He is, they hadn't a hope of ever being.

How about tonight? What about your soul? What about where you're going to spend eternity? What about your sins before a holy God? You know, Paul spoke about sin that dwells in us. It means it's at home. And some of us have made sin pretty comfortable in our lives.

And we've gotten so used to it, we don't realize there's bondage. We've gotten so accustomed to it, we don't realize its cost. We've gotten so used to it, we don't realize it's blindness.

What about your sin? The Lord's hand is not shortened that He cannot save. Neither is His ear heavy that He cannot hear. But God says, it's your sins.

It's your sins that are the problem. That's the core of the matter. That's the thing you need to deal with.

That's the thing you need to be serious about tonight. Sin that comes between you and God. And there's no hope for any as long as sin remains between you and Him.

And what have you done this day? Have you been like this man that we're reading about here in Acts chapter 10? This man Cornelius? Did you see how keenly interested he was in this? Oh, I know he was a most remarkable man. And he was living out all that he knew of right living. And I'm not saying, my friend, that you're not living a decent and considerate life.

This man, it seemed, even went beyond all that. He was diligent towards his fellow man. He was very conscious that there was a God.

And he had respect for Him. And you know, it's so interesting to see in this passage that this man who was thankful to God and was calling out to God, that he would have mercy on him. It says in verse 22 that God warned him.

And he only had to warn him once. How often have you heard the warnings from God? How long has it been since you first heard the tender strains of the gospel that told you of the value of your soul and of the need of your life before God? He was warned once. And it says immediately.

Immediately, he says, I sent for you, Peter. Immediately, the appeal went out. Immediately, the journey was taken and the servants go.

And they find Peter, who has just learned a wondrous lesson from God. And he comes fresh from the presence of God. And he comes into the presence of this man, Cornelius, who has become a seeker.

A man who's serious. A man who's in earnest. And he says, we're all here.

Seems like he wanted others to share the tidings too. And he says, we're all here before God in the sight of God. And tonight, my friend, we are all here in the sight of God who knows everything.

He knows whether there's a true desire in your heart to go after God's salvation. He knows whether there's a true reckoning about your soul and whether you would put eternal things first of all. He knows how anxious you are to hear the message from God.

And Peter, why, as he stands before this man, realizing that he is ready and the others are ready to hear what God has commanded him to say, Peter opens his mouth. And he declares to him, God commanded us to bring this message. He commanded us to preach.

And you know, the message of the gospel tonight is a message that God has commanded. The Lord Jesus was the one who said, go here into all the world and preach the gospel. The good news and all the wondrous news of God's salvation has reached thousands before you and is able still even today to reach your soul.

This man was serious. This man was in earnest. This man wanted something from God.

What do you want tonight? Weigh it up. It may be the last opportunity you will have to do it. You need to weigh it well.

You need to consider it thoroughly. My friend, you need to count the cost if your soul should be lost and you find yourself in hell. He commanded us.

It's a God sent message. And this God sent message it tells us is that it is Christ who is going to be the judge of the quick and the dead, a savior who has come, one who has died, one who has raised from the dead and is mightily able to deliver. He's going to be the judge of the living and the dead.

Imagine what it would be like to stand before him. The one who bears in his body the marks of Calvary. The one who went there and loved your soul.

The one who did everything it was possible to do to save you. One who still continues to call and urge you. And he says to him, give all the prophets witness, all the Old Testament prophets have spoken that through his name, whosoever, ah, thy grand word, all the wonder and the joy of it, all the tremendous offer of it, whosoever believeth in him should receive remission of sins.

I was looking at this verse. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Thank God we have such a gospel to preach.

Thank God it has a heavenly source. Thank God it's intended to reach the need of those to whom it is sent. Thank God for a Savior who's paid all the price to redeem us.

But look at the text. It says it's the power of God. And that power is revealed in removing the sin problem that stands between us and God.

That power is revealed in the kind of delivering power only the precious blood of Christ has. And look at what it says. It says it's the power of God to salvation to everyone that simply takes it, will simply receive it, will just take God at his word.

You know what happened with this man? He received it. You know what happened with this man? He heard it one time and he went home saved. Do you know why? They say, why does it happen? Some people get saved the first time, I know.

Why? Because they're serious about their souls. Because they understand the reality of their sins. And because they're serious about God's salvation.

Tell me, friend, are you serious with God? Because if you are, there's no reason at all why you need miss this great deliverance tonight.