And we thank God for it. We thank our pianist and our organist tonight as well for all the work that they do over the years with the music ministry. Now, we're going to ask the Reverend Barnes to come now and speak to us. He's going to give his testimony. And we know that that'll be a challenge and a blessing to every heart. So let us pray even throughout the service that the Lord will speak to us and speak to others as well. Mr. Barnes, great to have you. Thank you, Billy. So we'll read together, please, just a few verses from Paul's letter to the Romans. I invite you to open your Bible to the New Testament, and Romans chapter 1, please. And just three verses beginning at the verse 15. Romans chapter 1 and the verse 15. Paul wrote, "'So as much as in me is, "'I am ready to preach the gospel to you "'that are at Rome also. "'For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, "'for it is the power of God unto salvation, "'to every one that believeth to the Jew first, "'and also to the Greek. "'For therein is the righteousness of God revealed, "'from faith to faith, As it is written, the just shall live by faith. Amen. And God will bless with profit to our souls the reading from his own infallible word. I do want to say a word of thanks to your minister for the opportunity of coming along and to share a word of testimony. Good to have a testimony to give of the saving grace. and the keeping power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always difficult to know where to begin when one is revealing the story of their own salvation. Do you begin in eternity past when we were chosen in Him in love? even before the foundation of the world? Or do we begin at the cross where the Son of God loved us and gave himself for us? Or do we begin with the night when we were arrested by the Spirit of God, convicted of sin, born again of the Holy Spirit, and translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son? As a boy, I was brought up in a place called Belfast, Roslyn Street, and there was a family of one girl and eight boys. There was nine of us, and we were brought up in a little kitchen house, and I don't know where we all slept. We must have taken turns. But anyway, we were a very happy family, a family of boys and one sister. And from the earliest time, I can only remember my sister as a Christian, as someone who was different and who knew and loved the Lord. Now, across from our home, just a few doorways away, there was the Emmanuel Mission. The missioner was a pastor, John Proctor, and he was a... a convert of the Reverend W.P. Nicholson, and a great preacher of the Word of God, and a very faithful pastor in that mission hall. And as children, we were sent from our earliest days to go to the Sunday school and the children's meetings, and there we heard the Word of God and the message of the gospel. I can remember in Sunday school, Sunday school teachers teaching us the Word of God, and Mr. Wallace in particular. And he would give you a shilling if you would learn a particular passage of the Word of God. Now, Bob in those days was quite a bit of money for a wee boy in Belfast. And I can remember learning passages of the Word of God, such as John 14. and the opening verses concerning the second coming of the Lord, that the Lord promised, I will come again. Then we went along to the children's meetings, and there again we heard the message of the gospel. Now, I'm not as old as your minister tried to make out tonight. I know I've been around for a long time. But, you know, at the beginning of the early 50s, television was only a new thing, and it was only coming out, and people were getting television for the first time. And I can remember going to the Emanuel Mission, and we didn't have a television. But something that fascinated me about Mr. John Phillips, the superintendent of the Sunday School and the leader of the children's meetings, was that he was a a great man with a flannelgraph, and I loved those flannelgraph stories, and it was a real challenge to my heart, and I would sit up and listen to this man. Now, John had a whistle in his voice. I don't know if you've ever met somebody like that, but when he would speak, he would say, Girl, sit up in your seat." A bit like Wesley MacDole, you know. And he would get us to sit up in our seat, and we would listen to him as he would speak the Word of God. But he was faithful in the sowing of the Word of God, and I want to come back to that just in a moment or two. But, you know, like all young fellas, when you get out of your short trousers and you start to go to work and you think you're ready for the big world, I left Sunday school and church and all kind of religious things behind, so I thought, well, you know, the Bible says that my word shall not return unto me for it." And God will bless His Word, and it will accomplish the purpose that God has for it in our hearts. And I went out into the world and applied for a job and got a job in a co-operative bakery. And I really hear this for a mouthful, United Co-operative Bakery. And we used to call it Uncle's Brothers and Sisters, because a wink and a nod, and if you're a prod, got you into the co-bakery there in East Belfast. And I remember going in there to start my apprenticeship, and like all young fellas, I was looking forward to having a good time in the world. And every lunch hour, it was a big race down into the canteen, and the cards would come out, and I loved to play poker. And I could still play it to this day. It's something that, like riding a bike, it never leaves you. And I love playing cards. And, you know, as I was in the bakery serving my time, there was one man who was a Methodist by the name of Alec McCauley, and Alec actually went on to be a Methodist minister. And one of the things I loved on a Thursday was the apple creams. They brought them in and got them ready on a Thursday, and they were ready to go out on the Friday. And they had these empty shells, and they were filled with the apples. And it came my lunch break, and I picked one up, and Alec, he was putting the cream into them, you see? You know, with a bag. Better not show you how to do this. You'll be doing my job in the morning. But he was putting the cream in the bag, or the cream in the buns, and I lifted one. And I went over to Alec, and I says, Alec, would you put a drop of cream in that for me? And Alec looked at me. And he was a very gracious, godly, Christian gentleman. And he said to me, Stanley, I'm sorry, I can't do that. He said, you're taking something that doesn't belong to you, and you're asking me to help you. And as a Christian, I can't do that. Well, you know, that wee apple cream became like a bag of flour, like a big sack, and I never felt anything. I didn't know what to do with it, and I looked at him and said, oh, well, thank you, Alec, but you know, God was speaking to my heart, because he was genuine, and he was living his life for the Lord. And so, life went on, and we got involved, and went out and started to go to the dances and the places of the world. And actually, there was a dance hall not far from our Sandown church called the Brookborough Hall. And I loved to go there with the fellas on a Saturday night, and I did the bounce and all sorts of things. And, you know, you didn't have to know anything about dancing. All you did was bounce up and down and whirl them out and in again, and that kept them happy. And I remember going to the dances and thought I was having a great time. And every time we would go to the dance, we would go to the pub not far from the Sandown Road Church. And I was never into drinking in any big way, but I'd always get a drink and would drink it. And I remember sitting there in the pub, and it's wonderful how God works. And I would say to myself, oh, I hope the Lord doesn't come. I hope the Lord doesn't come and meet here in a place like this. You see, God's Word was still speaking to my heart. And the greatest thing you can do is teach and implant the Word of God. And you mightn't see souls saved right away. But God can take that incorruptible seed, and it can bear fruit in the days that lie ahead. Now, remember, on occasions, he would empty the glass, and he would look down into it, and he would say to himself, you know, that's just a picture of your life. Everybody thinks you're having a good time, and you're happy, and all the rest are the boys. But there was a void. in my life, there was an emptiness, and I was looking for satisfaction and something more in life. And so, I remember eventually, to cut a long story short, it was the year 1959, and it was the anniversary year of the great move of the Spirit of God in Ulster, when over 100,000 souls and more were swept into the Kingdom of God through the year of grace, and that great revival movement that took place mainly in the Presbyterian Church. And they were holding anniversary services, and they were having speakers like Oswald Smith, and converted Jews, and different people from various parts of America and other places, and they were all on Ulster for these special meetings. And there was a young man who came with a Jew who was a lawyer, and he was a great speaker as well. And this young man was a converted dance band leader. And in a strange way, something happened, and there was a fallout between him and the man that he came with. And so what happened was, hastily, It was organized, some meetings for him, and he was invited to come to the Emanuel Hall Mission and have a gospel campaign. Now, this young man was a converted dance band leader, and he was magnificent on the trumpet. And I'd heard about him and was invited to the meetings by my sister and others, but I thought, no, I'm not going to go to any meetings. And then one night during the campaign, I crossed the street and went to the door of a young fella that I run about with, with the same surname as myself, Jim Barnes, and I knocked the door, and his mother came out, and I said, is Jim in? And I wanted to go to the picture house with him. And his mother says, I don't know where he is. He's already gone out. And so, I said to myself, now, I hate going to the cinema, the picture house, by myself. And so, I remembered a mission. And I believe that was an answer to prayer. My sister was praying, Lord, save my brother's Lord. Save Stanley. And I can remember saying to myself, well, I think I'll go and hear this American. They're talking about playing the trumpet and a dance band leader. And friends, there was an after wave of the spirit of God and revival because people were queuing up to get into those meetings. and there was many, many precious souls were saved. And I remember going in and sitting down in the back, right at the back seat in one of the forms, and I said, I'm nearly last in here, and I'll be first out. And as soon as the meeting's over, out through the door, and away I go. And there I was, and I was sitting there. And that night, as I sat there, I enjoyed the singing and the trumpet player, Johnny Bassanio, and he played pieces on the trumpet, and I thought it was brilliant. For I was brought up with a Salvation Army background, and while I can't play a note, I still love music, and I thought that's brilliant. Then he opened up the Word of God, And he began to preach. And he told this old, old story of Jesus and his love. And it was a very simple message. But that night, I knew of a truth, that I was a sinner, and that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and if I was going to get into heaven, I needed to be saved and born again, and I needed to accept Jesus Christ as my own and personal Saviour. I can remember, as I came to the end of the service, and they sang that hymn, Just As I Am, without one plane, "'But that thy blood was shed for me, O Lamb of God, "'I come.'" And on the third verse, he said, "'Now I'm going to make an appeal.'" He said, "'The Lord Jesus was willing "'and not ashamed to go to the cross publicly for you. "'And if you want to get saved, "'I'm asking you to leave your seat "'and walk out to the front.'" and confessing your need of salvation. And I can remember it as well as if it was last night. The Spirit of God arrested my heart. opened my heart to the grace of God, and I stepped out of the seat and went to the front, and Pastor Proctor was there, and me, John Phillips, a man with a whistle in his voice. Hope you don't whistle, brother. And me, John Phillips, and Pastor Proctor said, John, will you counsel Stanley? And he took me to the side, and when I knelt down on those old forms that we sat on on Sunday school days, and he opened up John 3 and 16, and he read, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And he said, Son, I want you to do something. He said, instead of the word whosoever, I want you to put in your name, Stanley." And he read it like this, for God so loved Stanley, that he gave his only begotten son, that if Stanley would believe in him, he would not perish, but have everlasting life. That night, just at the sight of the form, very simply, no thundering lightning, no great feelings, no great emotion, just confronted with the truth of the gospel and the claims of Christ, I yielded to the Saviour, and I prayed, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And you know, that night, I got up on my feet, And the old pastor hugged me, and what rejoicing there was that I, among others, had come to know the Saviour. And I had to go home to a wee kitchen house, all the brothers, you know, the big double beds. And my brothers were there, and I didn't know much about the Christian life, but I knew as a Christian you should pray. And so some of my brothers were already in bed, and I get down at the side of the bed on my knees, and that never happened before in that bedroom. And I just prayed and I said, Lord, help me to be a Christian. Just ask the Lord to help me. And one of my brothers, I can still hear him, and he said, huh. Stanley's praying." And he called a meeting to order, and I was able to pray at the side of the bed. Now, the next day, I had to go back into the coal, and that wasn't easy. All these fellas and You know, I'm not going to go into it too much, but I could hardly say a sentence without two swear words. And that was typical of young people serving their time in those days. But you know, the Lord not only cleanses your heart, he cleanses your mouth. And he put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. I remember some of the fellas came to me, and the word went round, and they said to me, huh, here you become good livin', boy. I didn't really know what to say. And I said, I've become a Christian. Huh, we'll give you a week. See, in a fortnight, you'll be back at the poker table again, and you'll be out with us again. But you know, they give me a week, and a fortnight, and then a month. But you know, God had given me eternal life. I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. And the Lord Jesus said, I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly. And that night, I got life with a capital L. And maybe there's some young person here tonight, there's a void, there's an emptiness, there's a sense of no purpose in your life. I want to tell you, when you give your life to Christ, He's a saviour worth living for. Now, as I said, I continued on in my apprenticeship, and, As I was there, a baker came in, a well-known baker in the district, a man by the name of Herbie Smith. Herbie was one of two black belts in judo in the city of Belfast. And Herbie came in, and I got to know him. And I was fascinated with this subject of Judo. And I went and joined a club and got involved. Now, prior to this, I was going to the prayer meetings, the Bible studies, the late-night prayer meetings in the Old Ravenhill Church, and what times of blessing there were. But I got involved in Judo, and my ambition We came to get a black belt. You see, you start off with a red belt, white belt, yellow belt, orange belt. green belt, blue belt, brown belt, and finally the coveted black belt. And I started to go through all the different stages till I got up to brown belt. And I thought, this is tremendous. Eventually, I'm going to get this black belt. And it was also one of the instructors in the club and we would have them from the RUC, the policemen and the policewomen, to teach them self-defense and judo. And you know, to be a policeman in those days, you had to be six foot, hadn't you? Do you think you could crawl under the door of the day and be a policeman? They've reduced it a bit, haven't they? There's no policemen here. And I remember these big policemen, and, you know, you'd get them under the mat, and there you would get stuck in them, and up they went, and, oh, you said with that old song, they fly through the air with the greatest of ease, just like the man on the flying tepees, and coping them and having great fun and great times doing all this. But, you know, my spiritual life, and listen, young people, got suffocated by sport, and the Lord gradually was crowded out of my life. But you know, when you love the Lord, the Lord says, as many as I love, I rebuke. And listen, the Lord will let you go so far and then no further. He'll pull the lead to teach you that He's in control. I took ill, was so ill I couldn't get out of bed, didn't know what was wrong with me. My mother sent for Dr. Gorman, an old army doctor, and he came. And he said, Eileen, either he's got polio or meningitis, but this is a very sick boy, and you'll have to get him into the hospital. And I remember being taken into the Belfast City Hospital. When I went into the hospital, it was injections every six hours. And I didn't know where I was and what was happening, and I was very critically ill. And I remember lying there on the hospital bed and thinking, when I was able, and somehow your whole of your life comes before you. And I realized that if I was to die and to go out into eternity, I was saved. And I was not afraid to die, because I knew it was well, it is well with my soul. But Christian, I would be ashamed to die, because I realized I had nothing but leaves, and there was nothing but wood, hay and stubble, and no gold and silver and precious stones to lay down at the feet of my lovely Savior. And lying there, I cried to the Lord, and I said, Lord, if you raise me up, Restore unto me the joy of your salvation. Lord, I'll pack in the judo and I'll surrender my life to you. And you know, the Lord enabled me to keep that vow. The reverend S.B. Cook came up to see me in hospital, and he counseled me, and he spoke to me, and he helped me immensely. And I got restored back to the Lord. Now, Christian, realize this, that the Lord not only has pardon for your life, but he has a purpose for your life. He has a plan for your life. You see, no matter what God does, God always has a plan. Whether it's the creation of the world, there was a plan in it. Whether it was the creation of the tabernacle, there was a plan in it. And God has a plan for every believer's life. And I began to seek God's plan for my life. And, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And I left school when I was 14. Just a couple of years before that, we were out in the street mucking about and somebody lifted a brick and it let fly in my direction and I couldn't get out of the road in time and it just clipped me in the hip. And I didn't realize the severity of the injury. I got a chipped hip and a disease called Pertheus hip. And in fact, the motor functions of your body, of your hip. And I got that I couldn't put my foot to the ground or I couldn't walk. And they took me to the children's hospital. And Professor Withers, to cut a long story short, he diagnosed what it was. And he said to the people, he said, look, move up from them seats and put that young fella down. And he said, he has to go into a hospital immediately. And I went into the children's hospital, and I was in Palaster of Paris from the foot up right up here to the waist on the right-hand side, lying there in the children's hospital. The only good thing about it was this, you miss school, and I never liked school. Somehow it affected my health and state of mind. You miss school a lot. I was there and eventually was brought out. Plaster of Paris came off and I was in a wheelchair for several months being pushed about. Then they put on one of these steel calibres with a boot. And I had that on, and I was walking about. But I loved swimming, and went to the baths a lot on Tampmore Avenue, and, you know, strengthened my leg. And then, eventually, when I got into sport, that really strengthened my legs as well, and I was able to walk even without a limb. But what I was telling you this for was, one Sunday morning, I was in the old Ravenhill Church. I was sitting there, anxious to do the will of God. God, what's your plan for my life? Dr. Paisley was preaching that morning in the Book of Psalms, and he took for his text the children of Ephraim being armed, turned back in the day of battle. And suddenly, he leaned over to the pulpit and he said, young man, is God going to ride over your life that you turn back in the day of battle? Are you going to go through with God? And so I spoke to Dr. Paisley, and he encouraged me. And also at that time, Miss Valerie Shaw was there in the church ministering to the Jews, and a great worker, Valerie, among the young people, and a great encourager. God began to help me and encourage me in thinking about the will of God and making the right decision. And I heard of the WAC Missionary Training College in Glasgow. Dr. Bill Woods had been there, and you remember God's smuggler. The Dutchman who had been smuggling Bibles into the Iron Curtain and China and places like that. And I heard about this Bible college, and Victor Maxwell had been there. And I thought to myself, maybe that's where God wants me to go. And I sent in a letter of application. Now, wait till you hear this. I prayed, Lord, help me. Help them to turn me down. And it wasn't that I didn't want to go. I was afraid to go, because I had no education. I missed those two or three years at school, and I never liked school anyway. And I don't think I ever did a homework in my life. I just went up and got Kate and got it over with. And I said, Lord, I have no education. But, you know, I've learned this. It's not your ability God wants. God has got all the ability that He needs. It's your availability. And if you're willing to say, here, my Lord, send me, and make yourself available, then the Lord can send you, and take you, and use you for His glory. And I remember the word came, you've been accepted for the WAC Missionary Training College, and had a farewell for us in the Old Ravenhill Church, and we went forward into the WAC. And you know, one of the things they did, they sat you down and they give you an examination just to see what you knew or what you didn't know. And they got, of course, shot with me. And one of the things you had to do was to do English. Dear, dear, dear, dear. And I can remember sitting in the English class, and Miss MacDonald was there. She was a spinster. And she looked at me and she said in that Scottish Highland rogue, Stanley, could you tell the class the various kinds of nouns? And I know you know about the monster of nouns and all the different kinds of nouns. I could ask you and you could just rattle them off like that. But I didn't know any of them. And being a sense of humor, I said, well, there's lowdown, godown, and showdown, miss. And I can tell you, there was one showdown. And she looked at me and she says, did you not join in prayer with the rest at the beginning, asking God to help us to learn? Oh, I could have crawled out, you know. I didn't speak there for two days. I took the huff. You know what that is? That's what your daddy does when your mother tells him off, takes the huff. But anyway, the Lord helped us through. And do you know what I prayed? I said, Lord, nail my hands to the plough with Calvary love and help me, Lord, never to go back. The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back, no turning back. And I applied myself to the studies and I passed the exams, did well. And then eventually God redirected our lives. I always wanted to go to the mission field, and especially Brazil or some country like that, and applied for the candidate's course in the WAC. And then after doing that, we had to go to a medical doctor to be examined to see if we were suitable or not, our health, for to go to the tropics. And I was shocked when the report came through that I wasn't able to go. And I had a problem with mastoid operation. And I said, in the tropics, that would be difficult, and it would lead to problems. And I was turned down to go to the mission field. And so I came back home again, a bit disappointed, wondering what God had for me. And I went to Dr. Paisley, and I spoke to him. And you know, young people, it's good to go to a pastor, if you have a good pastor, and ask for advice and seek counsel. And that's what I did. And Dr. Pidley said to me, well, you know, he said, God has a purpose in it, but don't you be getting a job. If you get an ordinary job, he said, you'll get caught up with the work, and you'll never go anywhere in God's work. And he said, try and get involved in Christian work. And I did. Then he said to me, you know, you could maybe go to the theological hall and study and consider the work of the ministry. And I never really thought about that, and I prayed about it, and then I applied to the happiest place in the world, the theological hall. And Reverend Kearns, Dr. Kearns, Dr. Cook, Dr. Douglas, And Dr. Paisley himself, that was the four main lecturers. And I can honestly say we had tremendous times studying the Word of God, learning theology and church history from Dr. Kearns. Mind you, he was hard. He took no prisoners, Dr. Kearns. And I want to tell you something that was good for us as a discipline, because I can still remember what I was taught today. Dr. Paisley was tremendous. His knowledge of church history, and especially when he got talking about the Reformation or the great revivalists of the past like Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards and great men of God in the past. And we were encouraged and enriched and blessed during those years in the Theological Hall. While I was there, I got placed as a student minister in Mount Marian. I wasn't married, I was a single man, and there was this girl, oh, she was sitting down there, you know, Sunday school teacher. I said, she's a right looking girl, you know. I wonder would she go out with me. And I was afraid to ask. And I said to an elder, I said, you know, I'd love to ask her out, but she might turn me down. And then she was sitting in the church saying, ha ha, you're not as big as you think you are. I turned you down. And he came back to me. He says, you know, I think she would go out with you. So I asked her out, and you know we've been going out ever since. It's cost me a fortune, but we've been going out ever since. And I thank God for Ina, my wife. The greatest thing that any minister or missionary can have as a faithful wife and encourager, and one who supports you in the work of God. And it's not always easy. And sometimes I would get heated up, and she would say, now, calm down, take your tablets, you'll be all right once you get a good night's sleep. And she was always a wise counsellor and a faithful supporter in the work of God. And you know, tonight it's 72. You wouldn't think I was 72. Mr. Wiley on one occasion, a lady said to Mr. Wiley, I'm 70 today. Mr. Wiley says, I don't believe it. He says, I always thought you were 80. Well, that's hard to influence people among friends, isn't it? But that was Mr. Wiley's sense of humor. And I can say I've been young, and now I'm old, and yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed-begging bread. And I would close with this tonight, only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Jesus will last. I have to say this in all honesty tonight. The nearer I get to eternity and the judgment seat of Christ, the more I tremble. Because every man's work is going to be tried by fire. And did we do it for self? for to please others, or did we do it for the glory of God? When William Burns, the great missionary, was leaving Dundee to go to China as a missionary, someone said to him, Mr. Burns, I suppose you're going to China to convert the heathen. No, he said, I'm going to China to live for the glory of God. And the Bible says, whatsoever you do, do all for the glory of God. And I believe that the greatest thing that could happen to a Christian is to be able to look into the Savior's face and to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. It's only the applause of Christ that counts in the end. You know, Dr. Harley Ironside on one occasion was preaching on the five crowns that a believer can win. And as he spoke on these five crowns, He said, I want to win every one of them. I want to get every one of them. And after the service, an indignant woman came and she said, Mr. Ironside, I think you're a very selfish man. You want all five crowns. I think you're very selfish. And Ironside said, dear, you don't understand. Let me explain. They opened up the word of God in the book of the Revelation, and the four and 20 elders, and they were casting their crowns at the Saviour's feet. And he said, I want five crowns, and I want to be able to lay them at the Saviour's feet, for he's worthy of the best that I can give. Oh, I trust tonight if you're here and you're not saved, you'll give your life to Christ. And if you're here and you're back slidding in cold, that God will restore to you the years that are the locusts have eaten, and the vessel that is marred will be made again, a vessel on the honour that seemeth good in his sight. I know now you're ready for your supper, and I know the Lord's going to bless our fellowship afterwards. Thanks again. You've been very patient, and we trust that the Lord will bless this word of testimony tonight to every heart. Thank you. Reverend Barnes, if anybody wants to speak to Mr. Barnes after the meeting, I'm sure he'd be very glad to do that. If you've any questions about what he said or about the will of God for your life, why not speak to the Lord's servant tonight? 279 is our last hymn. We'll sing just a couple of verses, please, of 279. Pass me not, O gentle Saviour, Hear my humble cry, while in others thou art calling, do not pass me by. We'll sing just the first and last verses, 279, and then we'll commit our way onto the Lord in prayer. But let's stand together. Verse one and verse four of 279. Thus we know, gentle Savior, hear my humble cry. While others are calling, do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry. I know love is our calling in the past we've had. And the strength of all my love learned for the life to lead. ♪ Good God by our mercy siding ♪ ♪ Good in empathy ♪ ♪ Savior, Savior ♪ ♪ Hear my humble cry ♪ ♪ While others are calling ♪ ♪ Good, how vast we are ♪ Now let us unite our hearts together. The Reverend Barnes has made that challenging statement that we've all heard, I'm sure, before. Only one life will soon be passed, and only what's done for Christ will last. Standing around a graveside today, a woman of 86 years of age was buried, and we brought that same statement the crowd assembled there, only one life. It will soon be past, and only what's done for Christ will last. A few weeks ago, we were standing beside the graveside of a young man, just 30 years of age, only one life. It will soon be past, and only what's done for Christ will last. Can I challenge you? What are you doing for the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know him? Have you given him your heart? Are you serving him with gladness? Have you discovered the will of God for your life? Are you seeking to fulfill it? Why not put your life in God's altar tonight and say, Lord, take my life. Let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. The hymn writer said, you never can prove the delights of his love until all on the altar you lay for the favor he shows and the joy he bestows are for those who will trust and obey. D.L. Moody, many years ago, said, give your life to God because he can do more with it than you ever could. I trust tonight that you'll give your heart and life completely and unreservedly to the Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the plan and the will and the purposes of God in our lives. And O God, we know tonight that thou art not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And O God, we pray that you will draw precious souls tonight unto yourself. And Lord, we pray for those of us who know the Lord. that Father, thou wilt purify our motives, and Lord, fill us with the Spirit of God, and help us, O God, to do the will of God from the heart, to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things. shall be added unto us. Help us to live to thy glory. Thank thee, Lord, for this testimony and for your servant who has brought it. Bless him and his wife and his loved ones in these days. And, Lord, give him his heart's desires. And grant, O God, tonight, as we fellowship together, that thou wilt be one of her number. Do us good. Lead us on with thyself. And now may the blessing of God the Father and the love of God the Son and the comfort and counsel of the Holy Ghost, be with us now and for evermore we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.