Jack Jurgens's Ministry Library

Gospel tent meeting with Peter Ramsay and Kory Crawford.

Peter

[0:00] Now, if I don’t write things down, sometimes I forget to announce them, but I do have some, exciting news to share with you, but I’m not going to do it right off the bat.
Just as I’m closing, when I’m sitting down at five after eight, if I haven’t shared the exciting news, somebody just speak up and say, Peter, the exciting news. But I’m not going to start off with the exciting news, but hopefully what I’m going to speak about you’ll find exciting too.
Matthew’s Gospel chapter 4, and we’re just going to read in two places in the New Testament, and we’re looking at two three-word expressions. So the first three-word expression in our English Bibles is found in Matthew chapter 4, and Jesus is here on earth, and he is taken out into the of the wilderness, and you may have heard in catechism or in Sunday school about the experience of Jesus in the wilderness when he was tempted of the devil.
That’s verse one. Verse two, when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward and hungered.
He was hungry. And when the tempter came to him, he said, so that’s Satan.

[1:16] “‘If thou be the son of God, “‘command that these stones be made bread.'”, And here’s what Jesus, how he responded.
But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by read alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Now, I don’t know whether my intonations, whether you got the three words in that little section that I read, but in case you didn’t, it is written.
I want you to remember that, it is written. That’s what Jesus said.
When the assault of Satan came towards him, he turned to the word of God, and he said to Satan, it is written.
There’s authority behind the scriptures. And the second one we’re gonna read is in the Gospel of John chapter 19.
And the Lord Jesus is on the cross, and he has suffered much.
At this point, he has been crowned with thorns, and they’re piercing his brow.
His face is plastered with spit.
They didn’t just spit in Jesus’ face once. If you read the original language, they spat in his face repeatedly, over and over and over again, not just one piece of spittle.
When I was in grade seven, I don’t know whether I was bullied or not.
I don’t think I was, but it was a horrible experience. Somebody, a guy did spit at me.

[2:43] And I remember going into the boys’ washroom and just trying to get the dirt, of that one piece of spittle on my face.

[2:50] Jesus’ face was wet with spit. And then they grabbed his beard and they pulled it out of the skin.
And his back is whipped so badly that was just a mass of raw, quivering, bleeding flesh.
The Bible says that it was like a plowed field. and he’s been nailed to the cross.
And we’re not gonna go over all those details, but Jesus is on the cross at this point. Verse 28 of John 19.
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled the sponge with vinegar, and put it upon Hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
Verse 30, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar.

[3:45] He said, it is finished. And he bowed his head, and he gave up the ghost, or he delivered up his spirit, or he expired.
That’s what it means. That’s just an old English way of saying he expired.
And so the three word phrase there is, it is finished. And I just want to start the meeting off before you hear from Corey.
I just want you to focus on those two expressions. It is written and it is finished.
I don’t know whether you think the Bible is fable or fact, but if you, regardless of your opinion, it doesn’t alter the reality of the word of God.
I’ve been reading it for quite a long time. I became a Christian when I was in my teens.

[4:37] And my old aunt from Boston said, Peter, did you know you could read your Bible through every year if you follow a little system?
And I didn’t, so she gave me the little system.
How are you gonna read your whole Bible through every year? And so since I was a teenager, I’ve been reading my Bible through, I don’t think I’ve missed a year, every year.
And I want to commend the Bible to you.
God has spoken, Jesus said to Satan when he was tempted, it is written, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone. So, Jesus took

[5:12] Satan right to the Word of God. And tonight, we have no authority ourselves.
It doesn’t come from the church.
It doesn’t come from us personally. We’re just frail, broken individuals, just like everybody else.
We appreciate Christ, though. He died for us and He’s our Savior, and our sins have been forgiven, but still we’re just weak, frail, broken vessels at best.
Our authority comes from the Word of God, the Bible. If there was no Bible, there would be no gospel tent here tonight.
God has spoken his word. And we could spend a whole evening just telling you how unique the Bible is.
And we could give you facts, and we could give you figures, and we can prove internally from the Bible, we can prove from external proofs. The Bible is an absolutely unique, one-of-a-kind book in the world.

[6:11] But I’m not going to go there tonight other than to tell you that it is the most popular book ever.
If anyone’s ever told you that some night you’re just going to find it in a museum, don’t believe it.
Because as I said here early last week, there are more Bibles, and this isn’t just religious propaganda.
I had this from non-Christian sources, people who don’t love the Bible.

[6:37] There are more Bibles in more languages in more parts of the world in 2023 than at any other time in the history of the human family.
And I asked an atheist, if you say the Bible is so popular, an atheist, And he wrote this in a secular magazine.
And so I emailed him and I said, so like, if the Bible is so popular, why don’t I, you know, when you get to see the New York Times, the books to read this summer, the 10 top bestselling books?
I said, of all the years I’ve been looking at those lists, I have never yet seen the Bible on any of those top 10.
He wrote, he kindly emailed me back and he said, it is routinely removed from the competitions, because it would win hands down every year without question.
Isn’t that amazing? So if you don’t remember anything else I say, I hope you’ll remember this, that the words from God in the Bible, it is written, those are living, powerful words.
And if you don’t have a Bible, get a Bible.

[7:55] Your life hasn’t, you really haven’t started to live until you discover the rich truth, in the word of God that will change your life.
There are people here tonight and their lives have been changed.
The Bible has survived many attacks. You see, God has spoken.
So this is his word, his word.

[8:17] I come from Prince Edward Island in Canada and people say, oh, P.E.I., Ann of Green Gables.
I said, yeah, Ann of Green Gables, Lucy Maude Montgomery was the author, and she wrote a, whole bunch of fiction books.
I told that one night down the road here near Philadelphia, and there’s a guy who came up to me afterwards and said, I never heard anything else you said.
I always thought that was a true story about Ann of Green Gables.
I said, no, it was a figment of Lucy Maude Montgomery’s imagination.
The Bible isn’t the figment of anyone’s imagination. The Bible is the word of God.
And if you have never read it, start tonight. We’ll give you a Bible from the back and you can read it.
And if you want to know where you start, you can read in separate places.
If you want to know where we began, read in Genesis.
If you want to know about the future, read in Revelation. If you want to know some words of wisdom, read the Proverbs.
If you like poetry, read the Psalms.
But if you want to find out, is there anybody that can bring me peace within?
Read the gospels.
And if you want to read specifically about Jesus Christ, read the gospel of John and find out how we know that Jesus is God in human flesh when he was here.

[9:37] Gospel of John. God is spoken, it’s his word. And I don’t know whether you’ve ever thought of your Bible as this way, but it’s this way, but it’s like a manual.
But my wife sort of looks, is a, she’s in charge of all the manuals of all the equipment that comes into our home.
And so I, we have a lawnmower right on, we have a little property and I can’t, I can’t fix anything.

[10:06] And so I sheepishly happy win sometimes, I say, joy, the crazy lawnmower broke down again.
And she goes and she’ll, now she does it on YouTube, but she used to go to the manual.
She’d get the manual out and she’d say, what’s it doing? And I’d say, well, this is what it’s doing.
And she’ll get the manual out and then she’ll find out what wrenches she needs.
And then she’ll come out and fix it for me.
And then I’m a happy writer cutting the grass again. Do you ever think of the Bible as God’s manual?
The troubleshooting manual section?
What in the world is wrong with me?
Why did I ever have a thought like that?

[10:43] Whatever possessed me to honk the horn so loudly? I’m a kind, nice person.
Lose it in the car. You go to the Bible and you’ll find out why. The troubleshooting section. It’s, God’s manual for the human race. Find out what the problem is and you find out who the solution is.
All in the Bible, it’s God’s manual. It is written and it’s God’s message for you.

[11:10] People say, well, how do I know you’re truthful? Oh, you have my word for it. You say, put that in writing, please?” You know, God is as good as his word. In fact, the Bible says God is the word.
Jesus Christ said, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. You know, God kindly put his word in writing too. So you do have it in writing. You ever question it? It’s there in writing.
You know, you can accept what’s in school books and college books, written by scientists, mathematicians, historians, but you can’t trust what’s in the Bible? Really? Some of you would, probably like to have your sins forgiven, and you say, I can’t seem to crack the nut. What am I missing? Well, it’s all here. It’s just that you’ve failed to believe the Bible. You believe, everything else that you’ve learned in the science books and the mathematic books. People, you know, But we’re strange creatures, people, human beings.
People will believe a news report that a 750-pound mosquito with a wingspan of 13 feet was found in a swamp just south of Boston.
And you’ll be telling all your friends that 750-pound mosquito, 13-foot wingspan, you believe what you saw online?

[12:31] It comes to the Bible, you have questions. How can I believe it? Tell me how can I believe I would like to have my sins forgiven? Believe everything else. But when it comes to God’s word, you wonder why you’re not a Christian? Because you can’t believe God. You think he’s, a liar, not trustworthy. God’s message is for you. And if you’re ever going to be in heaven, there will come a point where you will just accept God’s word. Rest on it. But Then we read the other one, it is finished, it is finished.
And I don’t know whether you’ve ever appreciated that or not when someone, their last words, my father-in-law, he died when he was 58.
And I was in to see him just before he died. He died in the, and I reached the other side, his smile will be the first to welcome me.
I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hands.
And Mr. Stewart squeezed my hands and he said, Oh, he’s beautiful.
Those are his last words. He’s beautiful.
I don’t know what your last words will be, but last words are very significant.
These are among the last words.

[13:42] That Jesus spoke before his death. It is finished. What did he mean by that? It is finished.
Bitter words of defeat? Was he just sort of throwing things up the hands of despair and saying, all over, finished, didn’t work out. Oh, nothing else I can do.

[14:02] It’s all over. Is that what Jesus meant among those last words?
Oh, there’s significance in the last words. Were they bitter words of defeat?
Or let me ask you, were they sweet words of victory?
It is finished. I didn’t get to watch Mel Gibson’s movie I came out there 15 years or so ago, called The Passion.
I started to watch it, but I was really, really tired, and I fell asleep in the first segment.
And so I have no idea how he depicted Jesus’ death on the cross.
I don’t know whether when he got to that section, whether he depicted Jesus’ head slumping down on his, finched, but that’s not what the Bible says he did.

[14:48] When Jesus said, it is finished, You read in another gospel, it says, he cried with a loud cry. So here he is, 33 years old on the cross.
What did he mean?
Was he dying without realizing his dreams? Was he, who was he?
Was he a starry-eyed idealist?
Was he religious extremist? Who was this one who said, finish? Was he an imposter?
Was he a mystic? Did it finally catch up with him? Was he saying, it’s all over, I give up?
Look at him on the cross. He didn’t look like he was mighty conqueror, did he?
He was the one that went around.
John chapter seven, verse 37 said, if anyone thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
But now listen to him. He’s crying from the cross himself, I thirst.
Enemies would mock his claims for sure.
Ha ha, the one who promised a drink of the living water, now he is saying, I thirst.

[15:49] John 8 and verse 36, he said to the people, “‘If the Son shall make you free, “‘you shall be free indeed.
“‘Look, we got him, captured him, arrested him, “‘handcuffed him, now nailed him.
“‘He’s sure not free. “‘He promised freedom to others, “‘but he himself is bound to the cross.’ “‘The one who said in John 10, verse 10, “‘I am come that they might have life.'” Whoa, look at the life.
He’s promised an abundant life. Look at him. He promised one thing to us, but he himself experienced the opposite. So we wouldn’t have to experience it.
That’s what actually was going on. John 11, verse 25, he said, I am the resurrection and the life.
Oh, look at him, almost about to die. And saying, I am the resurrection and the life.
Empty, bold, audacious claims.

[16:47]
Another, I love the verse where he said, John 12:46, “‘I am come a light into the world, “‘that whoever believes in me shall not abide in darkness.'” And there was darkness at the cross.
How do you explain that? The light of the world, darkness.

[17:05] Again, friend, I tell you, if they didn’t understand it that day, could you understand it tonight?
He was enduring all that. He was experiencing the darkness. He was experiencing the thirst.
He was experiencing the pain. So you wouldn’t have to experience that.
That was a part of him coming to the world so he could suffer and bleed and die for sins that he never committed. We were the offenders. We were the guilty ones.
Jesus was innocent, but out of love for you and for me, he was willing to go through that.
Now, listen, it is finished.
What did he mean to have you decided whether it’s victory or defeat?
Well, let me assure you without pressing the point, he didn’t mumble the words.
If you’re hearing impaired tonight, I’m gonna shout it out.
It may be tacky, but the Bible says he cried with a loud voice.
So if you’re hard of hearing or sensitive ears, go like this, because from the cross, Jesus cried, IT IS FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED!
Hear the echo?
FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED!
Bouncing off the walls in Jerusalem, down through the ages, right into Wyckoff tonight.
FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED! FINISHED!

[18:28] That’s not for entertainment. He finished paying the debt for our collective sins.
And he finished suffering for sin.
The problem of sin, and he satisfied God.
And at the end of all that suffering, he said, I won’t say it as loud this time, finished.
He wasn’t conceding defeat. It was victory, victory, words of victory.
What does finish mean? Does it mean partly done?

[19:00] Some of you would like to be saved and you’re wondering, well, what do I have to do to have my sins forgiven?
I’d like to have eternal life. What do I have to do? What do I have to do?
You know, all the religious belief systems in the world are all based on that.
Do, do, do, and do some more. The Christian, what the Bible teaches is, done, done, done, done, period, finished.
You can’t add anything to what Jesus Christ did. He finished it all at the cross.
And here you are wrestling, wondering what you have to do to be saved.
Could you look to the cross this evening and believe what Jesus said on the cross?
It is finished, and just rest on Christ.
He did it all for me. You’re 2000 years

[19:41] late trying to do something else because it was all done at the cross. Imagine if you went over to the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the year I was born, the Mona Lisa, its valuation was 800 million, that famous painting. And the year I was born, it was vandalized, acid was thrown at it, And so, it’s an old painting.
And so, after that, they put it behind a bullet-proof glass.
And so, you go to the dollar store and you buy your little paintbrush and the paint-by-numbers, set of the four, five, six basic colors, and you make a trip over to Paris.
And you ask the curator of the magazine, you say, I’m from the United States, from New Jersey, and I have my little paintbrush.
Could you open that up?
There’s a few things I would like to add my little touch-ups to, to the Mona Lisa.

[20:46] How far do you think you’d get with a curator? It was done, it was completed several hundred years ago, and to touch it would be to dishonor it, would be to face the work that was done.
You can’t add anything to Christ, what he accomplished at the cross.
When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price.
Sins, every type of sin, regardless of your lifestyle, Jesus paid every sin. And he said, it is finished. And that exciting news that I wanted to share with you, Jesus said, and the, exciting news, by the way, was the work is all done. If you wouldn’t think trying to do something.

[21:30] I had exciting news to share with you tonight, that Jesus finished the work and you can be saved Tonight, if you could believe God’s word, it is written that Christ paid my sin debt in full.
Finish! Sorry, I saw somebody go like this. I know that’s loud, but I hope you appreciate.

[21:54] That what Christ did was finished 2000 years ago. And our message tonight is Jesus Christ, is who you need. He was a victorious one. He didn’t go down to feed. The Bible says very clearly that this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. He’s sitting down, the right hand of God tonight. He finished the work. When you’re working in a hot summer day, out in the yard, sweaty, and you have that backlog of weeds and everything else to do, and it’s the hottest summer day and you’re out there and the Sun is being on you and you’re and you’re, Craving another drink of water and then you finally pull the last weed up and what do you do?
You go in the house grab a bottle of water and you just sit down and what do you say?
Penny, that’s what the Bible says. Jesus did he cried it is finished He died, he was buried, and he was raised again.
And the Bible said, after that one sacrifice for sin forever, he sat down.
It’s finished. You just need to believe. You just need to trust him as your Savior.

Kory

[23:13] Now, it’s wonderful tonight to be able to preach about a finished work, that maybe you’ve.

[23:19] Come in this evening feeling empty-handed, nothing you could offer God, the tremendous good news tonight is there is nothing you could offer God and so it’s.

[23:30] Wonderful that we can share this message of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, and we’re going to continue thinking about Christ’s death on the cross for us, in the book of Acts in chapter 16 book of Acts in chapter 16 and here we’re going to read of once again of this man Paul and he has with him in this chapter, man named Silas and they’ve healed a woman, a young girl who was demon possessed, who was doing fortune-telling and was bringing a lot of money to her owners, and so when these preachers came
along and by the power of Jesus healed her, the ones who were in charge, the ones, who were making money, took offense to that. And so here we’re going to read, about them and what they did to these two preachers, Paul and Silas. And it says, in verse number 20 of Acts 16, it says, and they brought them to the magistrates and said, these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city. And they, They teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.
Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the.

[24:52] Jailer to keep them securely.
Having received such a charge, he put them into the innermost prison, the most secure location in the prison, and fastened their feet in the stalks in the chains.
But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword, and was about to kill himself.
But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.
Then he called for a light, ran in and fell down, trembling before Paul and Silas.
And he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

[25:55] There’s someone here tonight and you have that same question upon your heart. What must I do to be saved? Note the answer of the preachers that day in this really this very short sermon that they preached. So they said, believe on the Lord Jesus, Christ and you will be saved. You and your household. Then, they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who are in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them, and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.”, What a monumental night, not only in the life of this man, this jailer, but in the lives of his whole family.
The start of that.
When he went to work, when he began his business, as those prisoners were entrusted to him.
Little did he understand and realize. Now that very night, maybe early in the morning, the next day, he would be rejoicing with true joy that he had never experienced before.
Why? Because he had been saved.

[27:11] And friends tonight, no matter what is upon your heart, no matter what it is you are looking for, I can assure you that the only true joy you could experience tonight, and you wouldn’t even have to do what this man did. You wouldn’t even have to invite the preachers over for a meal afterwards, no. There would be great joy in your, home tonight if you could understand this, come to this realization, enter into this truth.
I’m saved. What a tremendous joy, what a tremendous blessing to know. It’s a great thing to be saved.
And this man, as we will consider him this evening, he asked a very important question.

[27:49] And you know, there are many important questions in life. And you could come here tonight, with an important question upon your heart, and you could ask from the depths of your being, and you’re searching, you’re longing, you could say, what must I do to be rich?
And you know, depending on who you would ask, the answer may vary.
You know, someone maybe advise you to get into the stock market, and others maybe say, well, real estate is a sure investment.
And you’d hear different opinions.
And you’d go home and maybe you’d analyze those different advices, those different opinions that were given to you. And maybe you just choose the one that just felt right for you.
What must I do to be rich?
Others may be thinking about the future and life and wanting to settle down and you can from the depths of your heart, what must I do to find a spouse?
You know, again, the advice

[28:42] would vary. You know, someone give a recommendation or some good online websites, you could choose, you know, whatever it is, christianmingle.com, whatever it is, and others would say, no, you just got to you got to make your move and hope for the best. And you know, the advice would change. And you’d go home and you wouldn’t be quite convinced of what the direct path with the best way to answer that question would be.
But you know what tonight friend, if you were to ask this question, what must I do to be safe? The most important question you could ask tonight. There isn’t a variation of answers to be given to you. There isn’t a list from which, you would choose the best that appeal to you or sounded best to you. If you in your soul in your heart tonight have this question, what must I do to be saved? The answer has not changed. From the answer that was given in the depths of a, small prison room out of a prison cell halfway around the world 2000 years ago, the answer was this, and it rings true this evening, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. It’s a promise from God himself. Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ. And this man, as you would consider him tonight.

[29:52] Maybe you could identify with some of the circumstances in his life or the situations in his life. We see here, he had a great responsibility that was given to him. Two very famous prisoners, notable man, maybe for the wrong, had been made infamous in the community, of the people that were against, them, the people that opposed their message. And so when that day came, and that afternoon, when he was given those two prisoners, and they said to him, make sure, make sure they’re guarded, make sure they’re kept in a place where we can question them further. It says he took, he took that advice to heart. He, put them in the most inner prison, the most secure place he could find for them. That great responsibility. He didn’t, disregarded. He didn’t depreciate it. He took it to heart and said, this is important. I’m going to lock them in a secure place.
Each one of us in our lives would have different responsibilities that arise of greater importance maybe than others.
And even in our own lives, I remember several years ago when I was working in downtown Toronto that I was in operations for the company I was working in.

[31:00] And we’d be given contracts from the different sales reps that we had to manage those contracts and do reports and make sure they were fulfilled, that the sales people could then in turn return to the client.
One day, one of the sales reps coming to me and putting a contract on my desk and me looking at the value of it. Now, for some, maybe this doesn’t sound like a lot, but for me, it was a lot. $1 million, the value of that contract.
You know what I did?

[31:24] I put it on top of the pile of all the contracts I was in charge of.
Why? Because it was the most important one. If I messed up that one, I’d be looking for a new job. I knew that.
And there’s many things in life that are given to us or entrusted to us that have tremendous importance.
And I’m not here tonight to devalue those things, when we think about our lives, what is the most important thing that you are responsible for this evening? What is it? It’s your eternal soul. Your eternal soul, when after those million, dollar contracts, whenever all those responsibilities have come and gone in this world, your soul will exist for all eternity. And the Bible would clearly tell us this and would, ask the question, what would a profit, profit you, profit a man, profit a person, what value is it if you gain the whole world, how much is that? I don’t know. But the whole world, if you gained all that, and lost your own soul, you know, God is.

[32:17] Saying this word when he says that he says, everything in this world is of lesser value than your eternal soul. That’s the, most important thing you’ve been entrusted with tonight. You know, if you look at the value of the net worth of the richest men in this world, there’s actually a real time list you can see on Forbes, that on a daily update of how much their value, their net worth has changed in a day.
And just yesterday I was looking to see who had dropped the most and poor Jeff Bezos, had lost $1.7 billion in a day of his net worth.
Just I guess the value of the stocks of Amazon up and down $1.7 billion in a day.
And there was good old Warren Buffett just a few numbers down and his value had gone up $153 million in a day.
A good day for him. a good lifetime for all of us, right?

[33:08] For him, $153 million. And you look at that list and you look at the fluctuations, in that list, sometimes great gain, other days great loss.
But you know, for every one of us who will, I think it’d be safe to say, we’ll never make that top 10 list. The thing we have in common with each one of them, might not be the increase or decrease in net worth each day, but each one of us, including them, has an eternal soul.
And has a value of whatever you’ve accumulated on this earth would rise and fall with the passing of the wind, your soul will exist forever.
And that is the responsibility given to you this evening. God has given you an eternal soul, when he breathed in breath into our lungs, into our lives, and he created us in his image.
And this man, he didn’t disregard it.
He took great care, he took great, put great importance on that great responsibility.
And our desire tonight would be likewise, you would put importance, you would take great care and put great concern, where will my soul be for all eternity?
If I’m saved, if my sins are forgiven, the Bible so clearly says, at the end of it, when our lives come to an end, when this physical body is buried and put on the ground somewhere on this earth, it says our soul will be in a place of joy, fellowship.

[34:21] With God for all eternity. But for each one that disregards their own soul, maybe went in and put in more value of all the things that could be accumulated in this world. And if your soul soul were to go into eternity without the forgiveness of God, without the forgiveness of sins, the Bible so clearly states, there’s a place of torment called hell. And that is where your eternal soul would spend all eternity. And so tonight, we would hope that as you listen to the gospel message, you would understand the importance of the situation, the value of what God, has given you, an eternal soul. And as he has put these men in the in the jail cell, it says, they begin to do something very Strange I’m sure it says they begin to sing hymns.

[35:03] Imagine that in a prison these two men Paul and Silas and it says the other prisoners heard him heard them singing I don’t know what they say. No, I don’t have the confidence like Peter made me to start singing here while I’m preaching But I’d like to think about maybe they were singing, Amazing grace. I know it didn’t exist I but maybe in their own language in their own tune that the same idea singing of the amazing grace of God I don’t know, but they sang. And this man, it says, an earthquake came. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake. So that the foundations of this man’s very home, his life, everything he had put his efforts into, were shaken. The foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately, all the doors were open.

[35:49] Everyone’s chains were loose. And as this man awoke and saw all those jail cells open, the very thing that he had put all his work, and his effort into, and had been shaken down to its very core by the God of heaven, this man lost all hope.
He was hopeless. Now here in the United States, I don’t think you get very many earthquakes.

[36:11] Costa Rica, where I’m from, maybe you would get woken up every few months by a good earthquake that would shake the house or shake the bed, and you would know it, and it would wake you up and you’d understand what is taking place.
And maybe God in your life is not going to use or is not using an earthquake to shake the very foundations of where you stand.
But God brings circumstances into our lives to shake us up, to stir us up, to understand life is short, life is fragile.
The things I’ve been trusting in, they’re not so firm as I once thought, they’ve been shaken. I don’t have the certainty I thought I would find in those things.
And he shakes this to our core.
I remember actually when Peter and another preacher were in the assembly we used to be in, in Canada, in Hamilton. And there’s a young man there by the name of Scott.
And he was a man who had grown up in a Christian home, had attended so many gospel meetings, someone you’d always pray for before a gospel meeting.
And for whatever reason, he just, he couldn’t come to trust in Christ.
He couldn’t put aside whatever it was.
I remember just maybe months it was before he got saved, that he was driving on the highway home from work, a busy highway, unsaved, with an eternal soul. And he was driving, he blacked out.

[37:29] And just by the pure grace of God, his car swerved across three lanes of highway, of oncoming traffic, and he crashed into the ditch, just on the side of the highway.
You know, I think God used a car accident or a near-death experience like that to shake the very foundation of what he was trying to run from, you know?
Tremendous grace that a young man was saved not too long after that, just by the grace of God.
And maybe you could look back in your life today and you could see things in your life and the foundations of your life that have been shaken to its very core like that prison was that day for that man. And you say, God is speaking to me. God is speaking. And friends, I know that you would, respond to the voice, the voice of God tonight, the workings of God in your life. You would respond to it. Tonight might be your last opportunity to hear the, gospel, the last chance you ever have to trust in Christ. I don’t know. And this man, he was shaken to his very core and he, had lost all hope. It said he drew a sword and he was about to, take his own life because if the prisoners had escaped and then certain death for him, he would be executed for allowing the prisoners to escape. And so he thought better than being executed, I’ll take matters into my own hand. And he had that sword in his hand without any hope. And against all hope, he heard a voice out of the darkness. Don’t harm yourself.

[38:51] We’re all here. In other words, he could hear as he would lift that sword up to take his own life. Don’t do it. There’s still hope. There’s still hope. A friend tonight, maybe in the very darkness of your life, where the circumstance of your life have crowded in around you, and you think there is no hope.
There is a voice that calls from heaven tonight. And it says there is hope. There is hope. There’s hope in a person. Stop harming yourself with religion. Stop harming yourself with sin. Stop harming yourself emotionally, relationally, in whatever way you found yourself in the despair and darkness of no hope in your life. And the voice cries out and says there’s hope, there’s salvation in Jesus Christ.
This man heard that voice.
And what was his reaction? It says he called for a light. You know, in the middle of that darkness.

[39:41] He needed just a little light.
And he called for that light and it says he runs in and he fell down trembling before those two preachers.
And he cried out with that very important question. Sirs, please tell what must I do to be saved?
And these men, they didn’t tell him about a pilgrimage he had to begin the next day, about some temple or some sacred ground he would need to travel to first.
They didn’t set an order, several different steps that he needed to complete.
What was the message of hope? What was that light in the midst of that darkness, that came out of that jail cell 2000 years ago?
What must I do to be safe? In front of you in the same sense tonight could relate with that trembling, fearful moments before hopeless Philippian jailer.
You know the same question tonight. Maybe having family members that are saved.

[40:33] Friends that are saved.
Maybe children, maybe a spouse, whatever it is, and you’d say, they’re saved, but I’m not.
They have that certainty, they have that surety of salvation.
And you’d say, what must I do? As we’ve heard tonight, it’s all been done.
Christ said it is finished. And the voice that came from that jail cell that night, what must I do to be saved? He heard an unchanging answer.
2,000 years later, that we would like to share with each one tonight desiring to be saved.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. It’s a certainty.
It’s a promise.
It’s stamped by the seal of approval by the God of heaven. Why?
Because on the cross, Jesus Christ, he died. He took our sins upon himself, a crown of thorns, nails in his hands and in his feet.
They pulled a beard from his face. They spit in his face.
Why? He paid the debt that we owe. He died the death that we deserve.
And God after that, after his son had died, cried out, it is finished, was buried, three days later, God announced to the whole world.
He announces to us tonight, I’m satisfied in what my son has done because he raised him from the dead.
And friends tonight, by trusting in that, just planting your foundation of your faith on him.

[41:53] On Jesus Christ, you could be saved tonight.
If you were to ask me tonight, how do I know that I’m saved?
The only reason I know I’m saved is because the Word of God says, he that believes on the Son has everlasting life.
Because the Word of God says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
There’s no asterisk, there’s no fine print, there’s no amendment in the back of the Bible that would suggest otherwise.
No friend, if you desire to be saved tonight, we can only repeat the words that came from that jail cell, some 2000 years ago. What must I do to be safe? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you will be saved.

Filed under: Gospel Series, crawford-kory, ramsay-peter