You need to locate yourself

I'd like to read again, please, in John 3, the Gospel of John chapter 3. I'm going to read at verse 31, first of all, John chapter 3 and verse 31. He that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth.

He that cometh from heaven is above all, and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth. Look at verse 34, please. For he whom God hath sent speaks the words of God.

For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. We've been praying today that there might be someone in the meeting tonight who is asking the question, how can I be saved? I've been thinking of a hymn today. You've sung it, I'm sure.

Tell me the story simply. For some have never heard the message of salvation from God's own holy word. If there's a charge against me tonight, it will be that it was simple.

God grant it will be a simple message of salvation. This is the first day of a new year, as you well know. What a beginning it would be if some soul were to trust the Savior tonight.

Some precious soul saved, not for the year 2006, but for all that great eternity we've been hearing about. I want you to think of the Son of God, first of all, the only begotten Son of God. And then I want you to think of where you are.

Locate yourself, because that's most necessary. We read in verse 36 that there are only two classes. There are those who believe on the Son of God, and they have everlasting life.

There are those who do not believe on him, and God's wrath abides on them. I've been thinking today of that expression, the wrath of God. I can't tell you that I know it, but I know the Son of God knew it.

He experienced it. He felt it. And if there's any who can tell us of the reality of the wrath of God, it's that Savior that you're just hearing about, who, as the Lamb, was nailed to the cross.

And underneath the wrath of Almighty God, he suffered. Now, let me be very simple. I want you to think of where you are tonight.

I want you to locate yourself. Many years ago, a doctor here in the city of Jackson who was a specialist diagnosed cancer, early cancer, in two people who are very dear to us. Actually, that diagnosis probably lengthened their life by a number of years.

Had that cancer been allowed to develop, it would have been impossible to save their lives, if their lives were saved. But the very careful diagnosis of that doctor was a great tragedy. I took that doctor's funeral.

He died with cancer. He failed to diagnose himself. In fact, he had a son who was a lung specialist at Johns Hopkins.

And he could have gone to his son and had his cancer in his lungs diagnosed early enough to have treated it. He didn't do it. He wasn't aware of his own condition.

He wasn't aware of his own danger. And he lost his life because he didn't understand his own need. Oh, I hope nobody in the meeting tonight will be like that.

Because I believe that that man I'm just telling you about, I believe he died and went to heaven. And I saw the shocked look on the faces of the people at his funeral, several hundred of them, when they heard me tell how Dr. Ross Taylor had trusted the Savior with his soul for eternity. He didn't miss the Savior.

He missed his own need physically. Please, please don't miss your need spiritually. The need of your precious, priceless soul.

Because there are only two classes. There are those who have eternal life and they know it. There are those who will perish eternally.

I think this is an awakening verse, John 3 and 36. It's a verse that is so plain and so clear, you can't mistake its meaning. It says, he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth.

It's an answering verse. Because those who are seeking the Savior find their answer here. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

Thank God it's an assuring verse. What a blessed assurance this is. I stood beside my own sister's deathbed.

My oldest sister, she was more like a mother to me than a sister, for the reason that she was 18 years older. And I was alone that day beside my dear sister Kathleen. She was the kind of a person that was a great help to me, because she was a student of the Word of God.

I was often amazed at how thoroughly she had studied her Bible and had a grasp of the truths of God so clearly in her mind. So here's a lady who has diligently studied God's Word and she's dying. What kind of truths is she thinking about? All those truths that she knew from Scripture.

You know what she said to me? She said, I've been thinking, Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so. And with that, she went to heaven.

Oh, how simple. Yeah, how blessed. To think that this Son of God who we read is above all.

He that cometh from heaven is above all. And the one who is above all loves a sinner like me. What an amazing story.

The love of God. John 3.16, for God so loved that he gave. He couldn't give more.

He gave all he had. And what love this is. This is the one who is above all from heaven.

And why did he come from heaven? Why did he come down? Why was the Son of God here? Can I answer the question as simply as I know how? So that you could be saved. I want you to think of the fact that there are two classes. Two things that God has joined together as well in this verse.

Believing on the Son and having everlasting life. And can I ask a question? A very simple one. When did you believe in him? I've talked to many, many people who said they believed in him all their lives.

They did not. They were making a terrible mistake. Because those who believe in him have an actual moment when helpless, able to do nothing for themselves, completely lost.

They just trust him only. Salvation isn't trusting Christ and something else. It's trusting him alone.

You'll forgive me for telling something that I've told many times. And I have had a few experiences like this through the years. But this one is as clear as any of them.

So let me tell you. I was waiting for Robert McElwain to arrive at the Toronto International Airport. It was a very bad day.

The weather had shut down the airport for several hours. And you know what happens in a big city airport like that when planes are not flying? The numbers multiply tremendously in that terminal. There were no seats.

I mean, they were all taken. I was standing amongst a number of people. And I saw a lady.

She was standing at the end of a bench. And I don't know why I was particularly drawn to look at her, because there were many, many people around. But she was doing something that was kind of different.

She had a big black purse. It was the kind that when you open it, about half of the purse opens. And she'd opened the purse.

And I just happened to be at the angle where I could see what was in the purse. I don't usually look into ladies' purses, I assure you. But the reason I looked, I saw a book.

The small print of that book made me wonder if it was a Bible. And the woman opened the purse and didn't take the book out. But she opened the book inside the purse and obviously was reading it.

Then she would look up and think maybe someone was watching her. And she closed the purse. She did that a number of times.

And I can't claim to have the greatest courage in the world. But finally, I managed to get enough courage that I walked up to her and I said, Ma'am, forgive me, but I know I have eternal life. Tears filled her eyes right down her face.

She said, Sir, would you tell me how you know? I said, let me see your book. It was a Bible. I took the Bible out of her purse.

She gave it to me. I opened to John chapter four. And I read to her about a man whose son was dying.

And he took a journey of about 25 miles, probably on foot. He walked to where the Lord Jesus was in the town of Capernaum. And he begged the Lord Jesus.

That's the word that's used, actually. He begged him to come with him to heal his son, for he was at the point of death. The Lord Jesus didn't go with him.

He said to the man, go home. Your boy is healed. What did the man do? Beg him still to come? No.

No, he didn't. The man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went his way. Was the boy healed? Did the man feel his boy was healed? What did he have? That's what I asked the lady in the airport that day.

What did that man have before he got home to tell him his boy was healed? She answered very clearly. He had Jesus' word and he believed it. And I turned to the next chapter.

And I read John chapter five, verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believes God that sent me, hath everlasting life, shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life. I was going to explain it to her.

Forgive me. I was going to try to explain that verse to her. The Lord Jesus said, he that heareth my word and just like the man heard his word and believed what he said and went home and found his word to be absolutely true.

I was going to explain all that to her. I didn't explain anything to her. You know what she said? She said, I have eternal life.

I must confess, I was shocked. I said, well, just a moment now. What do you mean? Well, she said he died for me and I have his word for it.

I have eternal life. She did. The years that followed, she lived to prove it.

She got Christ that day in that airport. She was born again. Oh, friend, you can have his word.

You can have his word. We read in verse 34 of John 3, he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. And these are the words of God.

He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. Well, I tried to do this for a long time. If God spares me for another three months, I'll have been saved 68 years.

But I have to tell you that before I was saved, I tried and I tried and I tried to believe. I thought it was some feeling that would come over me. I thought it was something I would do.

I thought, well, there'll be a change take place and then I'll know it. None of that was right. None of it was right.

You see, I was trying to get the right kind of faith. I didn't know that what I needed was faith in the right person. It's not how you believe.

Could you could you hear that now? It is not how you believe. It is who you believe. He that heareth my word.

He whom God has sent speaks the words of God. When a person says, I know I'm saved. I have absolute assurance that I'm saved.

What do they have? They have the word of God. Nothing less, nothing more. Not a feeling.

But don't you have to feel saved? No, you don't have to feel saved. Well, I'll look for a change in myself. No, that's not how I know I'm saved.

Well, I'll know when I get saved, won't I? How will you know it? Let me answer that simply if I can, just as simply as I know how. How will you know that you are saved? How will you know? The word that I have spoken. The Lord Jesus said, he that hears my word.

How simple that is. You know, I think there's one thing that lots of boys and girls who hear the gospel. And there's some here tonight.

There's lots of things that cause them difficulty and trouble. And I think if I go by my own experience, I think. My big difficulty was I was trying to believe it to make it true.

I thought somehow if I do this thing called believing, then it will really be true that Christ suffered on the cross for my sins. If I believe it, it'll be true. Was I going to do something in 1938 to change what the Lord Jesus did back on the cross? If he didn't suffer there enough.

If he didn't cry, it is finished. If he didn't put away all my sins. Nothing I can think or say or do or believe is going to change it.

You don't believe it to make it true. What happened? You believe it because it is true. I used to try to visualize that Christ was on the cross and dying for me.

Would that make it more true? Not a bit. Not a bit. How do I know it's true? What assurance do I have tonight that tells me absolutely that I have everlasting life? And I do have that assurance.

I'm not going to get too personal here, but I have faced death. Yes, the doctor said you're not going to make it. What happened? I had joy more than I can express.

I thought I was going to see the Savior very soon. I must confess that when I visited Martin Prince a couple of weeks ago, it was a Saturday. And Martin was so sick that day, he was absolutely sure he was going to die.

And when I visited him on the Lord's Day, he was so disappointed that he wasn't in heaven. He said, I'm very glad to see you, but I'm disappointed that I'm not seeing the Lord. That makes a big difference, doesn't it? To see him.

But you've got his word. I don't know anything that's more sure. I don't know anything more certain than having God's word and trusting it.

My simple story of believing in Christ has to do with a bridge. You've heard me tell it. Many of you have.

It was called the Kynock Bridge. I must confess that the appearance of it didn't impress you. It looked rather old and weathered, and the concrete didn't look too solid.

And we had to cross that bridge. And the difficulty was that we had a very heavy load to take across it. It was actually a mobile home that we had changed into a gospel hall.

It was a big one. It was wide. It was 42 feet long, and it was heavy.

The end of the bridge had a sign on it put up by the Ontario government, and it said load limit three tons. Our mobile hall, with the truck to haul it, weighed almost 10 tons. So how could we take a 10-ton load over a three-ton bridge? We didn't really want to try.

And we asked people up and down that road. Not many people live in that part of the country. They live just along the road, and back beyond it is what they call the bush country.

So there weren't too many people to ask, but we did ask the people, and they said, oh, don't worry about it. That bridge will take the load. It'll handle it.

But that didn't assure us too much until we talked to a man who said, you know, every few days the Ontario Department of Highways hauls 11-ton bulldozers over that bridge. Now we had reason to believe in it. But we hadn't trusted it yet.

We had not yet trusted the bridge. It was about a two o'clock on an afternoon that we came down around the last curve and pulled out on the Kynot Bridge with our mobile hall. At that moment we trusted the bridge.

It helped. I don't know whether I should tell the rest of the story or not, but a load of logs was going over that bridge a few weeks later, and the bridge collapsed. But that day we trusted the bridge.

I can tell you of a bridge that will never fail. I can tell you of a bridge that will take you safely to heaven. And he came all the way from heaven to do it.

He that came from heaven is above all, and he's above all as a savior. He's able to save to the uttermost all who trust in him. When did you trust him? Answer that question in your own heart.

When did you trust him? Will you trust him tonight? He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Abraham is very interesting to me because it tells us that Abraham believed God. He believed God about a thing unknown, a thing unseen and unfelt.

But he believed God. Now why does that make it so wonderful just to believe God? Because God's word is true. Because it will not fail.

Because the moment you rest on it, you'll have the word of God to assure you. And no matter what happens, no matter what your experience is, no matter how tragic or how bleak or dark the future, as far as heaven, your soul, eternal salvation, you'll have blessed assurance, the word of God, the word that cannot fail. Now, I don't think that... Maybe I've said this very clearly, but there's something else in his hand.

The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand. We just heard that tonight from Revelation 20. That's the passage of the word of God through which I was awakened.

I discovered that I was going to have to stand before the Lord Jesus and that my name was missing from the book of life, not found written. And I would be cast into the lake of fire. I sat in that meeting that night, absolutely certain that I would perish, that I would be in hell and the lake of fire forever.

Before I can say the words, it dawned on me. That's why the Lord Jesus was on the cross. That's why he was suffering.

It was to save my soul from hell. I couldn't help but trust him. I trusted him that night.

He loved me and he gave himself for me. Those words of Paul in Galatians 2 and 20 have been so precious to me through these years. The Son of God.

That's what we've been telling you tonight. He is the Son of God. He is above all.

And he came down to suffer on the cross. And the Son of God loved me and he gave himself. You could take that in tonight and trust that Savior and have his word to tell you without a blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, we give thanks for thy word. We thank you it is living. And we thank you above all that it's totally trustworthy.

We can depend on it. We can trust in it. By that word, the heavens and earth were made.

By that word, we can know the assurance of having eternal life. And so we ask thy blessing. We thank you for the solemn message tonight.

Oh, God, how terrible to think of a soul being cast into the lake that burns with fire. How can we take it in? The wrath of God. But oh, we thank thee the wrath has been borne by the Savior.

On him, almighty vengeance fell enough to sink a world to hell. He bore it for a sinful race. Thus became our hiding place.

So we ask of thee to honor thy son tonight. Bring glory to his blessed name. Save some precious soul who will trust in him this very night.

And wherever the gospel goes out across this world, across this land of America and around the world tonight, bless this message. And God grant that if we are spared, if we do not know, if we will be, we do not know when the Lord Jesus will come. We believe it's very near.

It's very close. He is near even at the door. But oh, God, we pray that there might be no one here tonight who will be left outside the door when the master of the house rises up and shuts it, that they may get in tonight by trusting Christ, by knowing that they have eternal life.

God bless in the name of the Lord Jesus. Part us with our blessing now. Amen.

Let's.