Not saved

Thank you very much for coming. It's a pleasure to see everyone. For those that might not know my name, my name is Scott McLeod from Prince Edward Island, Canada, and this is Tom Baker from LA, Los Angeles, the big city.

Never met a person from such a famous city before, so we're glad to have him with us. Now, we're going to preach the gospel tonight. We trust with the help of God, and we're going to eventually read from the Bible, but before we do, we're going to bow our heads, and we're going to speak to God in heaven.

Let's pray. Our gracious Father, we come into thy presence, and we thank you for the lovely words of this hymn that we have been able to sing, Down from the Glory the Savior Came, and we thank you for the Word of God that we're able to read from tonight, and what a privilege it is to know from the Word of God that into this world nearly 2,000 years ago came God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that he went to the cross of Calvary, and there, according to the Word of God, he died for our sin.

We thank you that he was buried, and that three days later on Sunday, he rose from the dead victorious. We thank you that at this very moment, the Savior is back in heaven, and he's offering salvation to whosoever will may come. We pray especially for those in the meeting tonight that are not saved.

They do not have a point in their life when they accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior. We pray especially for them. We ask for help as the gospel is preached, that they might understand their sin, they might be convicted of their sin, understand their sin has taken them to an awful place called hell, and they might understand for the first time why Jesus died.

We ask you for help in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Now let's turn in our Bibles, please, to the Gospel of Mark.

Mark chapter 10, we're going to read about a conversation that took place between the Lord Jesus and a man, and the conversation ended up not well. And I trust that this will not fit anyone here tonight, the way it ended. It started out good, but it didn't end well.

Mark chapter 10 and verse number 17. I have been thinking on this for the last couple of months, and a number of different things have come before me, so we'll try to mention them to you with the help of God. Mark 10 verse 17, and the word of God says, and when he was gone forth, now this is referring to the Lord Jesus, gone forth into the way or into the street, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, good master, I want you to really notice that, 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.

Now knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, and the next two are together, do not bear false witness, defraud not. And then finally number five, honor thy father and mother. Verse 20, and he answered and said unto him, master, all these have I observed.

Now that word observed, it's a very strong word, it means to guard carefully. So this man was very diligent, okay. Here's what he says, verse 20, and he answered and said unto him, master, all these have I guarded from my youth.

Now if we were to take time to read the account in the gospel of Matthew, he adds this question, what lack I yet? With all of his law keeping, with all of his good deeds, he was still empty. He knew he lacked something. So here's what happens next, verse 21.

Then Jesus beholding him loved him and said unto him, one thing thou lackest. Boys, we got to find out what this one thing is. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.

And come, take up the cross and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, this is the rich man, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God, or the kingdom heaven.

That's another way of saying heaven. Verse 24, and the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and said unto them, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

And they were astonished, this is the disciples, and they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them said, with men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible. Now that will be all we will read. We'll look to the Lord to bless and to give help as we try to lift the gospel out of this story.

What I have been appreciating just lately is a verse that the Lord Jesus stated in the gospel of John, and here's what he said in John chapter 6 verse 44, no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. Now we could look at this story, I really want to stand beside the disciples. There's a lot that they were confused about.

They did understand this as they stood there and watched this transaction, this conversation take place between the Lord Jesus and this rich man. At the end of the whole thing, what they saw, they understood this, this man wasn't saved. Because they said, who then can be saved? They understood what the Lord was talking about, they understood what this man was wanting, and they understood that the man walked away not saved.

Now friend, that might not mean a whole lot to you, but that is a very serious solemn thing to be not saved. Maybe you're here for the first time and maybe you wonder, well what does it mean to be saved? Well, if we were at a just a natural thing and I told you that I had a house fire and the firemen, they saved me. Right off the bat you would understand there was the danger of perishing in a fire and someone came and rescued you, saved you.

You'd understand that. Or if I told you I was out in the ocean and I was drowning and the coast guard came along and they saved me, you'd understand right off the bat there is danger that you have been rescued from. Friend, there's your danger tonight.

It's a real place called hell. That's not a fictitious place. That's not something that gospel preachers just sort of work up and try to scare people with.

That is a real place. It's not just a picture on a chart. That's real.

And friend, if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, if there has not been a point that you cannot clearly go back to when you understood my sins are taking me to this place. God, I need to be saved. Friend, you're in danger of perishing in hell.

That's how solemn it is. I don't take this lightly. Every time I stand with this open book before me and I look into the faces of people that are in the audience, I could be speaking to people for the very last time.

And you know what this rich man didn't realize? This is the last time that God will draw you to the Savior. The last time, young man. There will never be another opportunity in this man's life to be rescued from where his sins are taking him.

And all the disciples saw was a young, energetic, strong man with legs that could run. And they probably got all taken up with, look at this man. He's running.

Why is he running? Because he's able to run. No! Because God drew him. God! God was such a love for that man.

God who desires no one to perish in their sins. Friend, it was God that got that man to leave his house. It was God that drew that man down the road.

It was God that started to take up a dealing with this rich, young man and caused this man to understand, I'm lacking eternal life. I don't have the eternal life. With all of my riches and all of my diligent good works, I'm empty.

I'm empty. That is a miracle, friend, when God deals with a sinner. It is a miracle when someone... I was thinking of it this way.

Here's a normal day in this man's life. He's miles away from the Savior and he's in his house. I never read of the Lord Jesus talking to this man before this.

I never read of this man being in a gospel meeting like this. But here's this man in his house, familiar with the law of God. And he begins to become conscious of something.

I don't have eternal life. Anyone here willing to face that tonight? Maybe with all of your church going and with all of your good, clean living and thank God for it, maybe there's just that emptiness that's down there in the pit of your stomach. And maybe as the gospel is being preached and as you sit there and as you look at this church, that causes a tremendous amount of concern.

And it should. This causes a tremendous amount of concern. And it should.

Maybe someone recently has gotten sick or died or had a close brush with death. And you can still remember the sinking feeling. What if that was me? I'm not ready.

I'm not able to say that I got peace with God. Heaven is my home. Friend, we're so glad to see you tonight.

We're so glad that we're able to read from the divine word of God. We're able to direct you to this story because you want to know something. This man came to the Lord Jesus with an honest question.

What lack I yet? You know what I hear all the time as you go around, you preach the gospel, you sit with sinners and they're saying all the right things. I know I'm a sinner. I believe the Bible.

I know there's a real place called hell. I know about a man called Jesus Christ. I know he died on the cross for sin and sins.

I know the verses. I've memorized the verses, but I don't know why I'm not saved. You ask God why you're not saved, but you'd be ready for the answer because this man wasn't and the Lord Jesus doesn't waste time with people.

The Lord Jesus doesn't, as we call it, beat around the bush. No, this is too real to be playing with people. This is forever friend.

You know, every time I get up to preach the gospel, I think of a dear woman that I used to work with at the telephone company where I worked for 20 years. She never went to church anywhere. She didn't know anything about God.

She just knew that as a swear word. She didn't know anything. I can remember the day she came over to my desk and I happened to have that chart in a little tiny booklet.

What's that, Scott? I said, do you not know about a place called heaven? It's just a mythical thing, isn't it? No, it's a real place. You not know about a place called hell? I don't go to church. I don't even own a Bible.

There was about two or three more experiences after that where she would come over and we would go over that chart. And I told her, there's a man called Jesus Christ that came from heaven. It's not a Christmas story.

It's not a fantasy. It's not something that those of us that are religious go to church and we pump ourselves up with this nice sounding story. Somebody came from the heights of heaven.

No, it really happened. God sent his son from heaven all the way down into this earth to die for my sin and your sin. And I told that woman about that story and I quoted in her ears, John 3 and 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

You know what she said? Never heard that before. After I left the telephone company and went in preaching the gospel full-time, I got a phone call that she had a brain tumor and she was in the hospital. I went to visit that poor girl.

By this time the brain tumor had shut down the whole left side of her body so she just permanently slumped in the bed. I took that John 3 and 16 plaque and just the way she was leaning in the bed, I put that about nine feet from her eye and pinned it on the hospital wall. I said, Gwen, I want you to memorize this verse.

You need to be saved, Gwen. Gwen, if you're not saved, you're going to go to hell because of your sin. It's real.

The minute you cross death, you're in here because of your sin. I said, the answer is in that verse. God sending his son for your sin, to die for your sin.

I went away, I left her, and then I got the sad news that she died. Do you know how she spent her last afternoon on this earth? She used to call me Scotty, my little Scotty. She must have really liked me because she was a bit of a rough girl.

You know what she did the last couple of hours on this earth? Where's my little Scotty? I want to talk to him. Do you know what I fear? I fear that woman's in hell and I don't have a whole lot of confidence that I'm going to meet her in heaven. You want to know how irreligious that family was? They didn't even have a wig.

There was nothing. There wasn't ashes. There wasn't a casket.

There wasn't even a church represented at the funeral home. There were sandwiches and muffins. That was it.

That was it. I got a phone call from her mother about nine months later. You know what her mother said? We're going to give my daughter a proper burial.

We don't have a church. We're talking Canada, man. You think everybody knows this? She said, could you come to the graveside and do whatever you're supposed to do? I stood at that grave and it was just the immediate family there, about 12 people.

What verse do you think I read? I looked at those people and I said, I'm going to read you the verse that I read to Gwen in the hospital and in my office. And I preached on John 3 and 16. I had people coming up to me after, never heard that.

Could we have a copy of that chart that you showed her? Thank God I had the pocket loaded. It was the best preach I ever had. Most tracts I ever gave out in one, five minutes.

I gave them each a two rows and two destiny chart. Oh friend, it's a wonderful thing to know where you're going after this. This is what got a hold of this man.

This is what changed everything in this man's life. I don't know how many days he sat in his house and he wondered, what do I do? What do I do? How do I deal with this? And finally it got such a hold on him. He didn't care who saw him running.

He ran for the Lord Jesus. Fell down on his knees. What shall I do? He didn't care.

Anyone here tonight, friend, you're sick and tired of hiding. It's your soul, friend. It's forever.

I was greatly encouraged by Alex telling me about a brother, an older man in Lancelot, Labrador. I can still see him. Was he in his over 80 something? He fought it his whole life.

He actually ran after Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Burt Joyce with an axe who came to invite him out to a gospel meeting and they ran because he'd probably use it. And here I was two years ago sitting in that man's house and I can still see him. He was big into snaring rabbits and I can still see that man, his head down and his fingers making the snares.

And I knew he was listening. We were talking to him about a soul. What a privilege to meet him at the conference.

I thought it was a privilege to meet him at the conference, but what a privilege to hear the news. Just a number of weeks ago, that man got saved. Do you know what he said? I wanted it my whole life.

He sure didn't show it. Isn't it something how we hide? Am I preaching to professional hiders here tonight? Maybe I'm preaching to someone and you've sat through six and a half weeks of gospel and you held up pretty good, man. Oh yeah.

You went home without letting anyone know I'm troubled. You even went to bed and let no one know you're troubled. But in the stillness of the night, you think about it, don't you? Hell is real.

Meeting God is real. You know what the sad thing is about this man? He went to the right person and he asked the right question and he showed the desire and he walked away. He turned his back on the Lord Jesus.

He's the only man that I, right now that I'm thinking, I don't think there's another person in the Bible that turned their back on the Lord Jesus. And you know where that man went? That man walked into hell. He turned from the only savior and the man's in hell tonight, friend.

Why? Because he missed it. What did he miss? I tried to emphasize, you want to know what the thing is that he lacked? When he came to the Lord Jesus, he started it with good master. And the Lord right away picks up with that and tests that.

He says, listen, why are you calling me good? There's nobody good but God. And then the man looked at Jesus and said, master. See what he dropped? He didn't realize that Jesus is God.

And I'm talking to God. I'm talking to the very one that owns heaven. I'm talking to the very one that created me.

I'm talking to the very one that knows all about my life. Every mistake I ever made, I'm talking right to him. If he only had gotten a hold of that.

Friend, could I impress it upon you tonight what you're holding in your lap? This is the ticket into heaven. This is it. Maybe there's some Sunday school children here, those very verses that you're able to quote just like that off the top of your head.

That will take you to heaven. But you sit there with it and you don't understand what you have. What a thing this man stood one day and he literally looked into the eyes of the almighty God.

Why? Because God himself had pulled him, drawed him. Come to me. No sinner would ever come to Christ without the spirit of God drawing them.

No sinner would ever come to that understanding. I do not have eternal life without God helping the mind to see it. Friend, that's why it's so important, gospel preaching.

That's why the word of God is so important. That's why things in this life, nothing, don't let anything jump in the place of you thinking about your soul. Because without God speaking to you, you'll never think about it.

This man missed a golden opportunity. And let me say it again. The man is in hell.

You want to know why? I hope you understand why. It's the same reason why you're going to be in hell, friend. This man did not want to face this.

I am a sinner before this God. See, he tried to maintain, I've done the law. I've done it.

If he only understood, I'm speaking to God and the very one I'm speaking to is the only one who's ever done the law. The Lord Jesus is the only one who was ever able to fulfill the law and glorify it. No man upon the face of this earth born of a woman and a man is able to stand up, put their hand up and say, I have fulfilled the law.

We're sinners, friend. The law can only do one thing to you and I. It's what a level does to a wall, straight or crooked. That's what the law does.

The law condemns and that man should have taken his place and said, guilty, guilty as charged. I remember once being involved in a court case. I was in the proper place in the jury thing and we were literally baffled.

It was a two-week court case that lasted and this lawyer was guilty of taking large sums of money and falsifying bills and on and on and on it goes. And the prosecutor was over here and she was a tiger man. She had her facts all lined up.

She was a sharpshooter. You know what this man would do? This man would respond as if he never heard anything she said. And all of us in the room, the jurors were looking at one another going, like, is this guy not hearing what she's saying? Is he totally deaf to what she's saying? The facts, they're right there laid out.

His signature, all of his paper trail, everything's right there and he gets up and he presents how good he is ignoring all of this evidence. Well, it was pretty easy after two weeks to find the man guilty. You ever thought about the day you're going to stand before God, friend? You know what the Bible says? God will open the books and the finger of God will point at you one day.

You're guilty. You're guilty. And you know what God will be able to do in that day is what God will do to this man, this rich young man in a coming day.

God, when he judges this man, you know what he'll do? He'll take this rich young ruler right back to that very spot on the road. Remember a young man where you fell before me and kneeled? I tried to show you your sin and you wouldn't accept it. Very solemn thing, friend, when God deals in time with sinners.

Tremendous. Right now my mind is thinking of Zacchaeus. How wonderful you read about the Lord Jesus when he was come to the place.

He looked up. Every sinner on the face of this earth, God has a place where he meets with them, tries to show them their sin, tries to show them that they're not ready for heaven, and they're not able to get into heaven on their own. And when this man asked the question, what do I lack? That's why he went away grieved.

You know why? Because the Lord showed him and he couldn't take it. I trust that nobody here will be dishonest with God, dishonest with yourself. I remember well the day, actually April the 4th of this month.

What's this? What's the date today? 9th? 9th? 9th? Yeah. Okay. Whatever.

Close enough. 9th. Five days ago, April the 4th, 1990, I was a helpless sinner at the age of 24.

I'm 46. Don't get lost in the math. Okay.

24 years of age, I can remember the day, Wednesday, an afternoon. Do you know what I understood for the first time? This book is right. And I'm just a sinner and I deserve to go to hell.

Do you know what else I understood? Jesus died for me. I'll never forget the place. Christ will never forget the place.

And all throughout eternity, I'll never forget it. The place and the time on earth when I met the Savior. I trust that someone tonight will meet him and take him home as your personal Savior.