Good afternoon, folks. We're here from Partick, Free Church of Scotland, continuing with a local congregation. We meet at 2 Thornwood Terrace. If you go up Dumbarton Road, you'll come to the police station and opposite the police station you'll find a hill. If you go up the hill, you'll come to Thornwood Primary School and then you will meet our building next door at the crossroads. We would extend a warm welcome to you to come along any Lord's Day, that is, say, Sunday at 11 a.m. or in the early evening at 6 p.m. You would be made most welcome. And we also have a midweek meeting on Wednesday evening, beginning at 7.30 p.m. We extend a warm welcome to you all, where you might come along and hear something concerning the good news that has come from heaven. Now, you may well wonder, what is that good news that has come from heaven? Well, the good news that has come from heaven is that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the eternally begotten Son of God, he has come down from heaven. He has taken upon himself our form and our nature, he became just like us, sin only accepted. And he did this in order that he would be able to suffer and then ultimately to die on Calvary's tree. And indeed, friends, if we know anything about God, if we know anything about our plight and sin, then indeed this is good news for us, and we are to welcome this good news that has come down from heaven. As a congregation, we don't follow what's called the Christian calendar, but we do know that in the next week or so, we'll be coming into what's called the Easter period. Now that has significance because it does tell us something about part of the life of the Lord Jesus, particularly towards the end of His life. And I wonder, friends, I'm sure many of you will know about the crucifixion, but before the crucifixion, I wonder, do you know what happened? Something glorious and wonderful happened before the crucifixion itself. Here the Lord Jesus Christ went into a garden. It was a place that he often went to. And there, at that place, Judas brought the people who would ultimately arrest the Lord Jesus Christ and bring Him to trial and ultimately crucify Him. But before that, we have an incident where the Lord Jesus Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and there He took His disciples, and there He singled out three of the prominent disciples, and He asked them to follow Him. And they followed Him for a period of time. And then he went off himself into the garden. And he fell on his knees and he began to pray. What was he praying for? Well, he was in agony. He was in absolute agony. And you may well wonder, why was the Lord Jesus Christ in agony there? Well, without a doubt, something was happening to him. What was it? Well, God was laying upon him the iniquity of his people. He was encountering the wrath of God upon him. Why? Because the sins of the world were being imputed unto Christ. And he said, take this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will to be done, but Thine." And as he was in agony, he was there, therefore, crying out to the living God. But in his agony, he was prepared to submit to the will of God. Now, what does all this tell us? Well, it tells us a number of things. It tells us something about the man Christ Jesus Himself. Christianity teaches us that our Savior is God in the flesh. He is the God-man. Colossians describes the Lord Jesus Christ like this. who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, and by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers All things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. Now, these verses are telling us something profound regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. He is fully man, but He's also fully God. He is the image of the invisible God. And if you want to know what God is like, you must study the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the more that you study Him, and the more that you become familiar with Him, the more that you will know about the great God of heaven, who is the image of the invisible God. But there in the garden, when he cried out to the living God, he was revealing to us his manhood. He was in agony. And the Bible even goes on to tell us in Luke's gospel that he sweated great drops of blood. Such was his agony. Sorry? Yes, his manhood, yes, of course. We're not talking about his private parts, but his manhood. Well, maybe that's what it sounds like to you, but no, it is his manhood. He was a man, fully man, and he felt what was going to come upon him and what was coming upon him. and he felt the terror of the Lord, and he wanted to recoil from it. And that would reveal to us that our Saviour is fully man, as well as fully God. And I put it to you, friends, that this is the kind of Saviour that we need. a Saviour who is able to sympathize with us, a Saviour who is not remote and not detached, but indeed one who knows what it's like to live in this world. He knows what it's like to be tempted. He knows what it's like to have sin imputed unto Him, although He Himself was absolutely sinless, yet He knows what it's like to feel the wrath of God upon Him. And therefore, He can have sympathy with us. He's not someone who is remote and detached and has no feelings whatsoever. He is God with us. That's what it means. Emmanuel, that's His name. He is God with us. And therefore, friends, at Gethsemane, There, when he sweated great drops of blood, there, when the sins of mankind were being imputed to him, he revealed that he was man in the flesh. But it also reveals to us the terrors and the horrors of sin. because he was suffering as a substitute. He himself was not a sinner. He could not sin. He knew no sin. It was impossible for him to sin. Yet, at that particular point in his life, Sin was being imputed unto Him, and as far as God was concerned, He was reckoned as a sinner. Indeed, we might say He was reckoned as the chief of sinners. Why? Because the sins of all His people were being imputed unto Him at that time. And therefore, does it not reveal unto us the extremely serious subject of sin? And indeed, we will never understand the gospel, we'll never understand what the Lord Jesus Christ underwent, we will never understand these things unless we have some comprehension of this terrible thing called sin. because that's the very reason why the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. that Christ Jesus come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief." And there, friends, on Golgotha, or in Gethsemane, in that garden there, the sins of Christ's people were being imputed unto Him. They were on His account. And he was beginning to realize what it had to take in order to make atonement for the sins of His people. And it was not simply enough that The sins of His people were imputed to Him. He actually had to go to Calvary and He had to die. He had to offer up Himself as that once for all perfect sacrifice to make atonement for the sins of His people. Not for the sins of Himself, because He was sinless. He's the only person in this world who was ever sinless. He could not sin. He knew no sin. But at that time at Gethsemane, he was beginning to feel the weight and the burden of mankind's sin as it was imputed unto him. Now, surely this reminds us, therefore, or draws to our attention, the extremely serious matter of sin. And we will not talk about sin in an abstract sense. Instead, we will realize it's an extremely serious matter concerning our own personal sin. You see, friends, the Bible does not flatter us. The Bible will not make us proud. Indeed, the Bible will tell us the truth as it is in Jesus, and it will tell us. If you look, for instance, at Romans chapter 3 and at verse 23, it begins, For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There, friends, our guilt is exposed. Our true plight before Almighty God is revealed unto us. For there is no difference, no difference whatsoever. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. What does that mean that we've come short of the glory of God? Well, it simply means that we've missed the mark. We haven't reached the prescribed standard. Now, you might well say to me then, minister, then what is the prescribed standard? What does God look for from me? What is required of me? Well, here we are now. Here we're on a very difficult matter because we first must consider who God is himself. God is absolutely perfect. He is absolutely holy and pure and undefiled, and He lives in unapproachable light. His holiness is glorious. And therefore, before He can have any fellowship with humans, We must be right and we must stand in His presence uncondemned. Now there, what is His mark? What does He require of us? For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. What is the mark that we must reach? Well, as far as God is concerned, it is absolute perfection. That's what's required of every single one of us. In order to be reconciled to God, in order to have fellowship with Him, in order to be in a right relationship with Him, we must live in perfect harmony with Him. There must be no barriers. There must be no obstacles. Now, friends, ask yourself this. Can we say that our lives are perfect? Can we say that our lives are absolutely perfect? Well, we cannot. But that's the standard that God requires. And maybe then if you're thinking at all, if you're following my reasoning, well, surely you must say, well, this is impossible. I cannot in any sense be reconciled to God by my own efforts, by my own achievements, or by my own law keeping. And that is true. That is absolutely true. The Bible says, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. What does that mean? Well, by keeping the Ten Commandments or by trying to live a good and upright life, that will not cut muster with God. God requires absolute perfection. Therefore, we have a problem. We have a real problem. We have a profound problem. We have a problem that we cannot deal with. But now here is the good news that has come from heaven. God requires absolute perfection from us. We cannot deliver that perfection. It is impossible. Why? Because we are born in sin. We are shaping an iniquity, a conception, and of course that is not a reference at all to the biological act. It's quite simply telling us that sin passes from parent to child. And as our parents have a sinful nature, so the child will have a sinful nature. And sooner or later, that same sinful nature will reveal itself in sinful behavior. Therefore, we have a problem, a real problem, a problem that causes a barrier between God and His creatures. But here is the good news. Here is the good news. Although we cannot provide perfect obedience to the law of God, yet God is prepared to accept a substitute on our behalf. That is what Jesus Christ is. We have said earlier, He's the one who has come from heaven, and He's the one who has lived a perfect life, He's the one who ultimately then at the end of his life was able to offer up this once for all perfect sacrifice of himself. And therefore, when you look at the life of Jesus, you see he lived a perfect life. He alone fulfilled the law of God. He met all its requirements, every moment of every day of His life. He never sinned in thought or word or deed. And therefore, that righteousness is given to the believer. But we have another problem. We have broken the law of God, and God's law demands that there's a punishment for breaking God's law. And the punishment is quite clear. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. And the Bible teaches us this. What does it say? For the wages of sin is death. For the wages of sin is death. And that's what every sin deserves, because ultimately when we sin, we sin against God. And because God is an infinite person of absolute majesty and glory, to sin against Him is a treasonable offense. Now, we have a problem then. We have sinned. We have broken God's law. We deserve to die. But again, we look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we look to Him? Because He was the one who suffered and died in our room and in our place. In other words, for those who have broken the law, which is all of us, we have a substitute who kept the law and who paid the penalty for that law that was broken in the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, friends, when we think of Christ at Gethsemane, as we think of Him on His knees there, and as we think of Him sweating great drops of blood as it became clear to Him what He had to do in order to save His people, do we not see the terribleness of sin And do we not see a Savior who was able to sympathize with us and who was willing to undergo and undertake and do everything that was required in order that men and women would have a wonderful hope before them by putting their faith and their trust upon the Lord Jesus Christ? And that's why we come out this afternoon. We come out again at our weekly open-air witness in order that we might bring to your attention something concerning the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the most important person in the whole of this universe. And friends, he is one who is willing to save. All of us by nature have broken God's law. We are lawbreakers. We are covenant breakers. We are estranged and separated from God by our wicked works. But there is a way to be reconciled to God. There is a way to be made right. And that way is not found in ourselves, it's not found in our own efforts, it's not found in religion, it's found in a person. And that person is Jesus Christ and Him alone. Did He not say to His disciples, not long before He was going to pass from this scene of time, did He not say, I am the way and the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me." Now we realize that today in the society that we live in, a statement like that can be seen as very controversial and very dogmatic. But we're talking about a very serious matter, and we're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who alone has come from heaven in order to seek and to save that which was lost. And he's telling us dogmatically that there's no way to be saved, or there's no way to be reconciled to God, or there's no way to be found in heaven at the end of our lives unless we have Christ as our Lord and Savior. We do know that today we have many religions. People might say there are many ways to God, or they might say there are many gods. Well, we would dispute all of these things. We would tell you, because this is what the Bible tells us, there is but one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God, the same in substance, equal in power and in glory. And there is one God, therefore, and there is one way to be reconciled to God. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life for ransom for all, to be testified in due time. One God, one mediator, one Savior, one way to be reconciled to God, one heaven, one way to heaven, and it's only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, we say respectfully to you that if you're not following Christ and you continue on that path, then you'll perish. It's as clear and as simple as that, friends. Oh no, dear, there's a hope. Oh no, no, we will die, certainly, but our bodies shall rise. The Lord Jesus Christ proved that. He was taken down from the cross, dead and buried, but on the third day he rose victorious over the grave. And all his enemies cannot dispute that fact. And indeed, if they could, they would, but they cannot. All they would have to do would be to bring forth His body, but they couldn't. Why not? Because He was alive. He's risen, and He's glorious, and He's exalted. And therefore, friends, when we talk to you today about the Lord Jesus Christ, and when we remind you of what He did some 2,000 years ago, we are still talking about someone who is alive today. Yes. The Lord Jesus Christ, He did suffer. He did sweat great drops of blood on Gethsemane. He did go to Golgotha. He did die on Calvary's tree. He was taken down dead. He was put in a tomb. But the third day, friends, death could no longer hold Him. He broke the shackles of death. and He arose, and what's more, He is alive forevermore, and He's alive in such an extent that death can no longer have any hold upon Him. He has conquered death. This is what the gospel's all about. God has in the gospel defeated our greatest enemy. What is the greatest enemy we have? Well, ultimately it's Satan and death. And there on Calvary's tree, the Lord Jesus Christ. defeated both. And that's why we're able to come out this afternoon with the good and glorious news of the gospel that Jesus Christ has come to seek and to save that which was lost. He says on one occasion, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth in me shall never thirst. Now he's not talking about physical hunger or physical thirst, but he's talking about a spiritual hunger and a spiritual thirst. Are we thirsty? Are we hungry for Christ and for eternal life, and to have our sins forgiven, and to be reconciled to God, and to have peace with God, and to have a hope with God? Are we thirsty and hungry for these things? Then, friends, we'll find our satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. On another occasion, he said in John chapter 3, verse 36, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. There he is dividing the whole of mankind into two different camps. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life." Do you know, have you understood, have you grasped, friends, that the moment that someone truly believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ, he has the gift of eternal life from that moment on. Now, we're not talking about someone who simply believes some biblical facts. That's not the belief that he's talking about here. But to believe upon the Lord Jesus in a biblical sense is to trust upon Him, is to recognize that He is the Son of God, that He is the God-appointed Savior, and that He did go to Calvary's tree and He offered up Himself as a sacrifice to satisfy the just demands of God's most holy and inflexible law. And He is the Savior. And if we believe and trust upon Him that He died in our room and in our place and that our sins have been forgiven through Him, we have the gift of eternal life. And that's freely dispensed to all who will come and avail themselves of Christ. All we can do this afternoon is simply introduce this person to you. We can say something of him, of his person, and of his work. But friends, you must put your faith in Him, there is something that's required of you. It's all very well hearing about Him, but there's a response required. And what is that response? You are to receive Him. And that's what it means by believing upon Him, or receiving Him, or trusting upon Him, or following Him. It is to trust your very soul to Christ. As the Apostle Paul said on one occasion, I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him until that day. What's he talking about? Well, he knows who he has believed, and he's committed his never-dying eternal soul unto Christ. and he believes that Christ at the end will ultimately save him. Yes, the apostle Paul and all the apostles went the way of all the earth. They died, and they were buried, and their bodies turned to dust, but their souls went to be with Christ, and they are awaiting that day when the Lord Jesus shall return in power and in glory, and the resurrection shall take place. And there their souls, which are now with Christ, shall be reunited with their new resurrected spiritual bodies. And so it will be forever and forever. He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life. Friend. Are your sins forgiven? Friend, are you reconciled to God? Friend, do you have the gift of eternal life? Friend, is your eternal future secure? Are you right with God? Have you gone to the Lord Jesus Christ? This is what must happen. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And it's only by believing upon Jesus Christ and him alone, that one who came from heaven and suffered and died in the room and in place of sinners." On one occasion he said to a couple of women, or Mary I believe, a couple of women, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? There, what is he saying? He's saying he is the resurrection and the life. The resurrection is bound up in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Do we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ then, friends? This is the most vital question that we can ask ourselves this afternoon. You know, some people tell us that the Old Testament is different from the New Testament. Well, in some sense that is true, but the same message is found in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. And there the same Savior is presented to us in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament. In Isaiah, in the great prophet Isaiah, in chapter 45, verse 22, what does the prophet say? He says, look unto me and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else." Now, we need to say right at the very beginning that the prophet is not speaking of himself here. He is not saying to look unto Isaiah the prophet. No, Isaiah the prophet is speaking, telling people that God has given him a message, and the message is through Isaiah to the people that they are to look unto the Savior. Look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none else. And you are to look to the Savior. And who is that Savior? Well, we're not going to tire telling you. The Savior is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to look unto Him. Now, what does it mean to look unto Him? Well, many people looked unto the Lord Jesus when He walked upon this earth. The scribes and the Pharisees and many of the people of the Jews, they saw the Lord Jesus. They heard Him. They looked upon Him. But something more than that is required in order to be saved. What is it? You must look with faith. You must look with faith. You must believe that He is. who He said He was. What did He say He was? He said He was the Son of God. He said He was the One who has come down from heaven. He said He was the Saviour. He said He was the Mediator. He said He was going to offer up Himself at once for all sacrifice for sin. And He said to the people to come unto Him. That's what He said. And therefore, it's simply more than simply to look with the eyes. It's to have the eye of faith and look at this glorious person and to see him there on the cross, there as he suffered and died in the room and in the place of sinners. It's good to be here from Partick Free Church of Scotland, continuing with a local congregation, a Scottish registered charity. and we meet at 2 Thornwood Terrace. We would extend a warm welcome to you to come along any Lord's Day, that's Sunday at 11 a.m. and again in the early evening at 6 p.m. And we also have a midweek meeting where we meet at 7.30 p.m. Please come along. Go up to Dumbarton Road when you come to the police station. Opposite the police station, you'll find a hill. Go up the hill and you'll come to the Thornwood Primary School. And then we're next door at the crossroads. And we extend a warm welcome to you to come along. We're going to take a short break to recharge our batteries. But may the Lord be pleased to bless his word to you this afternoon. Good afternoon again and welcome to our open-air witness just outside Partick Station in the west end of Glasgow. We're glad you're able to join with us. We're grateful for the opportunity to have health and strength to be able to undertake this, and we're grateful for this great weather that the Lord has given to us. We recognize that the great God that we serve as the creator. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. God spoke and he brought all things into being. And we are firmly of the opinion that that same God who created all things is the one who preserves all things. And He is the one who controls all of the elements. He controls the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets. He's the one who controls the weather. He gives the rain and the hail and the snow, the thunder, the lightning, the tsunamis, the hurricanes. All of these things are under the sovereign control of Almighty God. I realize that what I'm saying this afternoon will be discounted by many people, and it's certainly against the culture of today, where many people are trying to brainwash us and tell us that mankind is responsible for the weather, and that we're in a period of climate crisis. Well, we take all our theology, all our teaching from the Word of God, and what does the Bible tell us? Genesis chapter 8, verse 22. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. Shall not cease. Wonderful verse that was given to Noah after he came out of the ark after the flood. While the earth remaineth, Seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. And therefore, our hope, our faith, our confidence is upon the living God, the great creator. And the Bible teaches us the work of God in creation is God's making all things of nothing by the word of His power in the space of six days and all very good. And that's the God that we seek to serve this afternoon as we come out with the gospel message to you in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who has made us and formed us. He reminds us, again, we're taught in the Bible, God created man, male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures." And there we are again teaching things that are somewhat counter-cultural today. When many people are trying to tell us there are a multitude of genders, and that people can change their gender, while the Bible makes it clear there are only two genders. God created man, male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. And this is what we firmly believe. And at the very beginning, friends, God created our first parent, Adam. He was created out of the dust. And because there was not a suitable helper for Adam, God created Eve out of Adam. And there we have the first human couple, male and female. And they were perfect before their Creator. And for a period of time they lived in perfect harmony and in fellowship and in union with their God. But you might well know the story of the fall, what happened when God's enemy, the evil one himself, Satan, came and spoke unto Eve through a serpent and he tempted Eve. And he asked Eve to take some fruit from a forbidden tree. And Eve looked at the fruit, and then she said, well, yes, I'll take it. And she took it, and she ate of the fruit, and she gave some fruit to her husband, Adam. And from that moment, something terrible happened to mankind. What was it? Well, they sinned against God. That's what happened. And that is why we are today. This explains the situation that we find ourselves in today. Because when they sinned, that glorious, wonderful relationship that they had with their Creator was finished. It was broken. They no longer had that intimate relationship with their Creator. They had sided with God's enemy, and therefore they were banished from the presence of God. And all our troubles in this world can be traced to that time of rebellion. All the problems that befall us in this world can ultimately be traced to the action of our first parents when they sinned against God, because that relationship was broken. All our problems, what are our problems? We have our family problems, do we not? We have fighting, we have divorces, We have court cases. We have sickness. We have suffering. We have tears. We have wars. We have prisons. We have hospitals. We have armies. We have graveyards. We have death. All of these things can ultimately be traced back to man's rebellion and sin itself. And therefore we have a great problem. And this problem is so great that we cannot deal with it ourselves. But do you know, God has done something about it. He has come into this world in the form of His Son in order to address our greatest plight and predicament." Now this is quite remarkable, is it not? When you think that God is the one who has been offended by our behavior, yet He is the one who has initiated our recovery. He has seen us lost and perishing. He has seen us without hope in this world. He has seen us heading for a lost eternity without hope because of our sin, sins that we cannot deal with ourselves. But what did He do? Well, the Bible tells us in John 3, verse 16, a verse that you might well know. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Do you see, therefore, friends, the great love of God? Seeing our predicament, seeing that we were lost, seeing that we were without hope in this world, He did something about it, and He sent not an angel, or not a legion of angels. No, He sent His only begotten Son. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus. And what's more, Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time. Does this not reveal, therefore, to us that Jesus Christ is all out in order to save sinners? Does this not reveal unto us the great love that God has towards sinners? That although we have offended Him by our behavior, and we are not deposed to be reconciled to Him, yet God has taken the initiative. God has done something on our behalf. That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And therefore that's why we come out here this afternoon, to tell you the good news of the gospel. To tell you, yes, to tell you in some sense, News that does not please us because it tells us that we're sinners and we need to be saved, but it tells us that there is a Savior. Well, if anyone knew what you said, it'd be quite good. If anyone knew what you said. That's very bright, isn't it? Very bright. She's really showing how educated she is, isn't she? by seeking to say foul language in the public square. Friends, this does not tell us something about the heart of every single one of us. Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murderers, fornications, and adultery. It's from the heart, and the heart is what's wrong, sir. The heart is what's... I have a heart, and my heart speaks to you. If you had a heart, you wouldn't be racist, you wouldn't be a bully. A bully? Oh dear, now that's, there's some, there's some accusations there. A bully? My hands are in my pocket, my heart is telling you the truth, as it is in Jesus. Well, sir, come here and tell me about it. Come here, come here and tell me about it. This is not revealing to your friends the problem with mankind. It's the heart. The heart is all wrong. In our very inner being, there's something wrong with us. This is what we're trying to tell you. But in the gospel, in the gospel, there is hope. Why? Because Jesus gives us a new heart. Our sins are forgiven. We're reconciled to God. We have new life. And this is what we need. And only the Lord Jesus Christ, only He can give this to you. You cannot get it any other way. You cannot get it by doing good works, or going to church, or taking up religion, or being charitable. You cannot do it. It's only through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what we don't like to hear, but this is what we must hear. It is that our problem is our heart, our nature, the way that we come out of the womb. We have a sinful nature, and that sinful nature will manifest itself in sinful thoughts, in sinful words, and in sinful actions. Yes, sir, what can I do for you? Well, I hope you realize that, what I'm talking about. Yes. You love Jesus? Jesus died for our sins. He did? Yeah. Jesus, my boyfriend, he's gay. No, no, no. That's, that's silly. That's silly. That's silly. You know, if you want to be serious, fair enough, but he won't be a clown. The thing is, if you do some sins, you can apologise, but the thing is, Jesus died for our sins. Well, we do sin. We sin every day. How do you know that? I've sinned a lot. Has this guy got Sam Ferguson? No, you've sinned now. Blaspheme. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold them guiltless who take his name in vain. That's the third commandment. Be careful, sir. Be careful what you say. I'm sorry I laughed as well. It's alright, we're used to it. Thank you very much, enjoy your chips. You know, the Bible speaks to the young people as it does to us all. But it says to the young people, remember now thy creator and the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. I remember my days of youth, lightheaded like many of them here. But friends, before you know where you are, your middle age, then your old age. And we need to get right with God today. And there's no time like the youth, no time like being in your youth. Give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ now, because the devil will always say to you tomorrow, but the Bible says today, for today is a day of salvation. And He does warn the young people. He does exhort the young people. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. You know, when you're young, you're fit, you're healthy, you have all your life before you, is it not a great time then to commit your life to the Lord Jesus, to take up the cross and follow Him in your younger years? Because as you get older, it becomes more and more difficult to become a Christian. Yes, that's a fact. The older you get, The more sin gets a hold of you, and the more your pattern of life is set, and the more difficult it is to turn your back upon sin and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, the older you get. And that's why Solomon, the wisest man at that time, he said, remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. And therefore the Bible tells us, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Because we don't know about our lives. Is that not true? We do know. that life can be short, death is certain, sin is the problem, but Christ is the cure. And this is what we want to draw to your attention too today, that you are to seek the Lord while He may be found. Because many people might hear something like this, and they might say to themselves, well, I'll consider what the preacher's saying, or they might say, well, I'll go home and read my Bible, and I'll give some consideration to these things, and I'll think about it. But before you know where you are, your life can change. You might be fit and healthy today, but you may be in eternity tomorrow. That's the way it is with life. We don't know these things. We cannot tell. We don't know one day from the next. That's why James tells us that our lives are but like a vapor. We're here today and we're gone tomorrow. And what happens, friends, when we pass into eternity? Oh, we don't like to think on this, do we? But we must, because we're all mortal. The speaker is mortal. All the people I can see from here, we're all mortal. We're all on a one-way road. And as one person has described it, what is the world? It is but a hospital, and there's only one way out, and it is death. And what's going to happen to us when we pass into eternity? For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done. whether it be good or bad. And there the Apostle Paul is telling the Corinthian Christians that there's going to be a day of judgment, a day of judgment. when every single human being that has ever lived will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Well, I'll tell you, friends, you will appear on that day. You'll not be able to hide. There'll be no excuses. You'll have no one to stand before you to represent you. It will be you and Christ. And I'll tell you, you don't want to stand before Christ in your sin. You don't want to stand before Christ in your natural righteousness. You want something else. You want His righteousness. You want to be clothed in His righteousness on that day. And that's why we seek to come out this afternoon to draw your attention to this, that you might prepare for this great day. We don't know when it will be, but we know it will be because it has been decreed by God. He alone knows his own timetable and schedule. That day will come. We cannot avoid it, but we can prepare for it. How can we prepare? The only way to prepare is to have Christ as our Lord and Savior and to have our sins forgiven and to have a new nature and a new heart that He gives to us when we come and embrace Him as He is freely offered in the gospel. Let us take a few moments break, but may God bless His Word to you this afternoon. Good afternoon, we're glad you're able to join with us for our weekly Open Air Witness. This week we're at or outside Partick Station in the west end of Glasgow, and we give you a warm welcome. We're from Partick, Free Church of Scotland continuing. We're a local congregation. We operate and worship in the locality here. We say this because we want you to know that we're not charlatans, we're not fly-by-night cowboys, we're not here today and gone tomorrow, but we're situated and based here. We meet at 2 Thornwood Terrace. That's just beside Thornwood Primary School. Go up Dumbarton Road when you come to the police station. go up the hill opposite the station and you'll come to the school and then our building is on the crossroads. We meet on Sunday, the Lord's Day, the first day of the week. We meet at 11 a.m. and we have a early evening meeting also at 6 p.m. and we meet on the Wednesday evening at 7.30 and we do genuinely extend a warm welcome to you all that you might come along and hear something more because all we can do here is somewhat wet your appetite because we realize you are passing by, you're either going to the bus station or the subway or the railway station or the supermarket here and you're going about your business But we want to impress upon you the importance of the claims of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the one who came from heaven in order that he might seek and save that which was lost. Now, you may well have been listening. You may well be wondering, well, is this for me? You might say, well, all this Christianity and all this religion, it's just for righteous people. Maybe that's what you think, but that's not the case at all. The gospel is for sinners. It's for people who are lost and perishing, who have no hope in this world. It's for people who recognize that they are sinners. That's what it's for. And we want to make sure that you're aware that you will be accepted, you will be received. Someone who genuinely comes to the Lord Jesus Christ will be accepted, they will not be turned away. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. We quote that verse from Micah in the Old Testament, chapter 7, verse 18, and we quote it quite often because we know that many people think that God is hard and that God is against them. Well, that's not strictly true. Yes, God is a God of justice, we know, and God will punish the impenitent. That is true. but for there is mercy for all who will forsake their sins and come and avail themselves of the salvation provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. The God of the Bible is a God who loves to be merciful, who loves to be gracious. And this is what the prophet is saying, who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity. And this is remarkable because mankind are the ones who has offended God. Yet God is the one who has taken the initiative in order to address our greatest plight and our greatest need. God could easily have left us to perish in our sins. He could easily have done this. But He chose not to. Instead, He chose to work positively and to save people. To save them from a lost eternity. to save them from being punished for their sins throughout all the ages of eternity. This is what He did. And this is what He wants to be known as. 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. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. There, friends, do you not see right at the very beginning that it is God who is all out in order to save mankind? It is God who has taken the initiative. It is God who has done something positive. And what a thing He has done. He has sent His Son, His only begotten Son. And in order for there to be a salvation, in order that there might be a gospel, He had to send His Son to suffer and to die. Does this not reveal, therefore, unto all of us the great love of God, that love that we cannot possibly comprehend, yet He has revealed it to us? He didn't just simply look upon us, He acted, He did something. And in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. You know that the Christian gospel, it talks about having our sins forgiven. But it's more than that. It's more than forgiveness. It is acceptance. It is to be taken in to the family of God. Now, all of us are created by God, and in that sense, He is our Father. He's our Father because He has created us. But to be a Christian is something else. To be a Christian is to be actually adopted into the family of the living God, and to be a co-heir with Christ, and to share with Christ. Now you know that the Son of God was His only begotten Son. There is no one like Christ. He is absolutely unique. But those who belong to Jesus are brought into a family relationship whereby we are enabled to call God our Creator our Father." What a wonderful blessing. And therefore, is this not something that we should seek the Lord for? Here we have today, friends, here we are on mercy's ground, here in some measure the Christian gospel is being presented to you. The claims of Christ are being laid before you this afternoon. You are being reminded that as far as God is concerned, you are a sinner. and you're on that broad road that leads to destruction, and unless there's a change in your circumstances, and if you should die in that position, then you will go to that horrible, terrible place called hell. Now, here the gospel is being laid before you. There's a way of escape. We have to take the narrow road. What's the narrow road? The narrow road is to embrace the Lord Jesus, to have Christ the Lord as your Lord and Savior, to realize that He is God's answer to our greatest predicament, that He is the one who suffered and died in our room and place, and that by believing in Him, we have the gift of eternal life. These things are being laid before you today in all earnestness and seriousness, that you might seek the Lord. And what does the Bible say about seeking the Lord? Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. This is what you are to do. This is what's required of you. The Gospel's been proclaimed. Christ has been held up as a Savior to you. You must seek Him. You must go after Him. You must call upon Him. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. Why? I don't know what you're saying. He's very disappointed. I've just done it. I've done it. Very good, sir. Yep, very good. I wish I knew what he was saying. All I'm saying is, seek ye the Lord while ye may be found. What a glorious hope was set before the thief and the cross. And that displays to us and reminds us that Jesus Christ is one who will accept the penitent and he will not turn away the penitent. And one thing about Christianity friends is that once you come to Christ your old life is gone. It's gone. It's a new life and surely this is what we need Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. A new life. That's what Christianity is about, friends. New life, a new relationship. The relationship with the Creator has been restored. Is this not what we need today? Is this not what you need? A new life, new hope, new purpose, new aspirations, a new direction? Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Paul tells us also in Romans chapter 8, verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. That's just a term for those who are Christians. That's what it means to be a Christian, to be in Christ. And the Apostle Paul says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. How do you feel then today? How's your relationship with God? Have you got a peaceful conscience? Is things right with you? Or are you under condemnation? Well, friends, to get rid of this condemnation, to be right with God, what must we do? We must come to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must embrace Him and have Him as our Lord and as our Savior. And he says to us, as he says to the church in Laodicea, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. There's a gospel invitation. I stand at the door and knock. In some real way, the Lord Jesus Christ is knocking in the gospel and he's knocking at your heart, he's knocking at your conscience, he's knocking. Friends, will you hear? Will you open? Will you hear him and receive him as he is offered to you in the gospel? Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. That's what Jesus said to impenitent sinners. He would invite them to come, come unto me. This is what we say in the gospel to you this afternoon. Come then to the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe upon him. Call upon him. Repent and believe the gospel. And may the Lord be pleased to bless his word to you this afternoon as we close our time