I invite you to turn with me tonight if you've got a copy of the Scriptures to Matthew's Gospel. And tonight we're going to the 27th chapter. Matthew chapter 27. And I'd like to take up the reading at verse number 11 of that wonderful chapter of Scripture. Matthew 27. Tonight's subject is the most foolish judge in history. The most foolish judge in history. Matthew chapter 27, verse number 11. And Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word. in so much that the governor marveled greatly. Now at the feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will you that I release unto you, Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down in the judgment seat, his wife sent on to him, saying, have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, whether of the twain will you that I release unto you, they said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do with Jesus, which is called Christ? They all say unto him, let him be crucified. And the governor said, why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then released He Barabbas unto them. And when He had scourged Jesus, He delivered Him to be crucified. We know that this is God's eternal truth and we pray that God will bless the reading of it to every single heart. Now let's pray together, please. Our Father in heaven, We bless Thee tonight, O God, for what our ears have already heard. We thank Thee, O God, for the story of saving grace. And, Father, we thank Thee that whom God saves, He saves well. We thank Thee, O God, for our salvation. We thank Thee that it's found in Christ and in Christ alone. And, Father, we pray just now in Jesus' name, as we come to search the Scriptures and study Thy Word, We pray that Thy Spirit, Lord, will get a hook in men and women and bring them irresistibly to the cross. Father, we pray that Thou wilt save tonight as Thou hast done in nights past, and we pray that for Thy glory Thou wilt open eyes and open hearts to behold wondrous things out of Thy Lord. I confess tonight, Lord, my inability I confess, Lord, my weakness, and therefore I give myself to Thee, just an earthen vessel, just an old jar of clay, Lord. But I pray that Thy Spirit will fill me to the uttermost, in Jesus' name, and that Thou wilt receive all the glory for what Thou hast done and for what Thou art going to do. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, all of us, consciously or unconsciously, make decisions continually in life. Some decisions that we make are vitally important, and other decisions that we make are not very important at all. And one of the great tragedies, I believe, is this, that the decisions in life that are not all that important are the decisions that we give so much of our time and affections and attention to. But some of the big decisions in life are the decisions that we do not really think about with any great detail or authority. For example, I'm sure that there are many of you, men included, that prior to coming to this meeting you stood in your bedroom for maybe an hour or for an hour and a half or for two hours standing in front of a mirror considering what you will wear to this meeting. Should you straighten your hair or should you curl it? What sort of makeup should you put on? Does your tie match your trousers and your shoes? Does your skirt match your blouse and your necklace and your little earrings? And maybe you put on a beret and it didn't match so you went away and changed it and you could change three or four times and you give so much attention to what you look like. And I know for myself that One of the decisions that I make in life so often, and it takes me such a long time to make it, is whenever I'm paying for petrol, and I'm going into the petrol station, and I'm walking past the sweetie stand, I'm just like a little kid in a candy store. And I'll reach for a double-decker, and then I'll stand, I'll reach for a topic, and for something else. Such a small decision, but you stand for so long, making a decision that does not have all that many consequences. And of course there are great decisions in life that sometimes we do not really think all that much about. Should I go to university? What line of employment should I give myself to? Where should I set up home? Who should I make friends with? Who shall I marry? Sometimes we just almost drift into these things without really giving them the care and the attention that they deserve. And I want to warn you tonight that Perhaps even the subject of marriage is one of the most important things that you'll ever consider in life. And I want to warn some of you young people tonight that all is sometimes not as it seems. You say, what do you mean? Well, I want to tell some of you young girls tonight, whenever you're out of there, wherever you go at the weekends, it might even be a church service like this one, and you see a fella and you think he's just such a hunk, I want to warn you that he might be a skunk and not a hunk. And for some of you, fellas tonight, you might go out and you might see a girl and you just think she's an absolute dreamboat. She could turn out to be a shipwreck. And for some of you girls, you look at a fella and you think, boy, he's just such a hero. He could turn out to be a zero. And for some of you fellas, you think that girl's just such an absolute babe. Well, she could turn out to be a little piglet and she could destroy the rest of your life. You know, there'll be an absolute tragedy for you to go out to a nightclub or some place that you shouldn't really be and to see some fella on the dance floor whirling around in the ball of his big toe and think that's the fella for me. And then in a few years you roll over in bed after you've married him and realise you've married an absolute fool or even worse, a rascal. And I trust tonight that you'll give consideration to important decisions in life. But the most important decision that any person in life can ever make is this. What shall I do with Jesus, which is called the Christ or the Messiah? Who is Christ? And what shall I do with Him? Now Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor. And being the Roman governor, he had a tremendous responsibility. And we talk often times about a God that is sovereign and a God that is providential. But dear friend, tonight you have got a responsibility. to make a decision about what you will do with God's Son and what you will do with Jesus Christ. Now it tells us in verse 19 of the portion that we read together that Pilate was set down on his judgment seat. Pilate was set down on his judgment seat. And standing before him is a man that is known locally as Jesus, the carpenter's son, Jesus of Nazareth. Now, I don't know how much Pilate knew about Jesus, but I know this, that as Jesus was standing before Pilate, and Pilate was in the judgment seat about to make a judgment and a decision about this man, Pilate was about to judge the Creator of the universe. He was about to judge the King of kings and the Lord of lords and the Prince of glory. And dear friend, tonight, in a spiritual sense, you are sitting in a judgment seat. And you tonight are going to pass judgment about Jesus Christ. Not only about who He is, but also, and very importantly, about what you will do with this man, Jesus Christ. Consciously or unconsciously, tonight you are going to make a decision. You will either say, I will take this man, Jesus, as my Savior. I'll also take Him as Christ, the Messiah. And I'll also take him as Lord and Master. And I will trust him and I will allow him to rule over my life. And trust him as Saviour and Lord. Or, alternatively, and it's the only alternative, you will leave and say, I will not have this man to rule over me. And like Pilate, you will be a fool and you will reject Christ one more time And unless God supernaturally intervenes again in your life, you will never be saved and you'll die and you'll go to God's hell. And it's as simple and as solemn as that. Don't be like Pilate, who was the most foolish judge in history. Now you say to me, why do you say that Pilate is the most foolish judge in history? Well, I believe tonight that I've got four biblical reasons as to why that statement is so. The first reason why Pilate was the most foolish judge in history is because Pilate resisted the impulse of his conscience. Pilate resisted the impulse of his conscience. Dear friend, I believe tonight with all my heart that as Pilate sat in that judgment seat and the world was crying out, crucify him, that is Jesus Christ, I believe with all my heart tonight that Pilate's conscience was saying, let this man go. He knew something of who Jesus Christ was. It would have been impossible for Pilate to sit in Jerusalem and be unaware of who this man Jesus was. Just a few weeks previous, the Lord Jesus had gone into Jerusalem riding in the back of a donkey, and the crowds had gathered round him and bowed down before him and said, Blessed Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And it tells us in John chapter 12, verse 19, that the scribes and the Pharisees and the religious leaders were so annoyed by this that they said within themselves, Behold, the whole world has gone after him. The old religious people weren't too happy about what was happening. And so it is in the world tonight. There's many as a young person who's come to Christ and trusted Him as Saviour and Lord. And the old religious crowd are the ones that try and hold them back. And I'm sure Pilate was aware of it all and he knew so much about this man Jesus. And I want to tell you tonight that you in this meeting know a lot more probably than Pilate did about the Lord Jesus Christ. You have seen Him saving family members. Maybe you have seen the work of God in the life of your father or mother or brother or sister, perhaps even your son and daughter. And you have got a conscience that bears witness to you that Jesus Christ is a real and is the only Saviour. Now, what was Christ charged with? Well, it tells us in Luke's Gospel, chapter number 23 and verse 2. that the accusations that were brought against the Son of God were these. And they were brought by the religious people again. Luke 23, verse 2. We found this fellow perverting the nation. This man is perverting the nation. The words of this man are perverting and corrupting the hearts of individuals. You know, whenever Jesus Christ went out and spoke to people, his words were full of love. His words were full of hope. His words were full of grace and full of mercy and full of compassion and he went out and he healed people and he gave people a hope worth living for and the world wanted to suppress this. And dear friends, tonight, what has the world got to offer you but sadness and tragedy and sickness and death and then hell at the end of it? And the only book that has ever come into this world is the Bible, God's Word. A book that offers life, a book that offers forgiveness, a book that offers happiness and hope and peace and joy in living and a sure and certain hope for God's eternity. And what does the world do? It tries to close up the book. It tries to stop the mouth of the preacher. It tries to halt the evangelist. It tries to stand in the way of God's Word and it introduces philosophies like evolution that give people absolutely no hope whatsoever. This man is found perverting the nation. He's also forbidden to give tribute to Caesar. He's guilty of treason and preaching false doctrine. And not only that, but he's a heretic, saying that he is the Messiah and he is a usurper of the King's throne. And as these accusations are brought before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says concerning Pilate that he asked the Lord a question. And he says, hearest thou not how many things I witness against thee? And the Lord just kept his mouth shut. Jesus Christ, you see, was on death row. And I'm sure whenever Pilate saw that, as it says in Scripture, he marveled greatly. There was a great surprise. Because whenever a man stood to be condemned, he would have tried to defend himself. He would have tried to answer back against his accusers. But for three years, Jesus Christ has been preaching. And he has made it very clear who he is and what he stands for and why he's here. And as the Lord has finished his three-year preaching ministry, he falls silent. Dear friend, what if God some night was to fall silent to you? And for year after year after year, you would hear the voice of Almighty God speaking to you. And then suddenly, supernaturally, dynamically, God stops speaking. Dear friend, where will you be then? And so Pilate had this impulse in his conscience that Jesus Christ was who he said he was and that he should have let him go. But he did not obey his conscience. He resisted the impulse of his conscience. And maybe you're just like that tonight in this meeting. You have got a conscience. God has given you a conscience. And you've left the meetings at night going by, and you've left thinking, I have to get right with God sometime. But you're suppressing it, and you're resisting the impulse of your conscience. You know, the Bible says in Romans chapter 2 verse 15, to paraphrase the verse, that God has written his law upon our hearts. And that law is manifested in the conscience. I ask you tonight, is it right to murder? You say it's not. How do you know that? God's law written on your conscience. I ask you tonight, is it right to go out and steal? You say, no it's not. How do you know that? God's law written on the conscience. Is it right for you tonight to tell lies? To disobey your parents? To commit sexual fornication? Is that right or wrong? You say it's wrong. How do you know that? God's law written upon the conscience. Again, something that the evolutionists cannot, and will not, dare to explain. And tonight you're suppressing your conscience. and you're trying to erase it and you're trying to rub it out. A famous preacher by the name of Thomas Brooke says that conscience is God's preacher in the bosom. What is it tonight that tells you that God's word is true? Why is it tonight as the preacher preaches and the girl is given her testimony that there's a ring of truth about it? Why is that? It's because God has written his law upon your conscience. Now let me ask you tonight, how is your conscience? Is your conscience clean? Or are you going to bed at night, perhaps after these meetings or any other gospel meetings that you go to, and you're lying awake at night and there's no peace in your life? And there's no joy and there's no contentment and there's sins that you've committed in the past? pornography that you've looked at, sexual sins that you've committed, things that you've stolen, lies that you've told. There's rebellion and there's disobedience and continually your conscience is plagued lest these things that should catch up with you and your sin would find you out. Or maybe tonight you're not saved at all and you're saying, preacher I don't know what you're talking about because my conscience isn't troubling me. When you know the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2 that there are certain people that have their conscience seared with a hot iron. Now what does that mean? Well I used to, whenever I was working at engineering, I remember maybe burning myself with a welder or a blowtorch or something like that and it just shrivels up the skin almost immediately. And for a while the nerve endings are killed and you could take a pen and stick it in your finger and hardly even feel it. And that's why the Lord Jesus said to Saul, why kick ye against the pricks? Because Saul, if you keep kicking and resisting it, you'll grow calloused and hard, like the hind end of an old cow, and you'll not feel the pricks anymore. And you'll go on resisting your conscience, and your conscience will be seared. You see, the Bible speaks about people that can sin without feeling. It doesn't really affect them anymore. You know, I'm sure the first time anybody This meeting ever heard about what we call abortion that horrified you? To think that a live fetus or embryo within a womb could be sucked out at the demand of a parent and at the whim of a doctor. And that shocked you. And now that it's been going on for years and it's happening thousands of times every week in the United Kingdom, it no longer affects the conscience. We hear about murders. I remember my parents saying whenever they were young as I was, a teenager once, they says, they remember, there was a murder in the country. And for weeks, everybody was talking about this person that had been killed. And everybody knew their name. And all of Northern Ireland went on for weeks like a soap opera in the newspapers and on the radio. They're saying that if a person had died today, it would hardly even make the front page of the morning paper. And we become so hard and callous, don't we? And so it is with the Gospel. We've heard it so often. that we can so easily resist the impulse of our conscience, and that's what Pilate did, and that's why he was such a foolish judge. Another reason why Pilate was such a foolish judge is because he resisted, or rejected, the instruction of his companion. If you look there at verse number 19, it says when he was set down in his judgment seat, his wife sent on to him saying, have thou nothing to do with that just man. Now it's often said that behind every good man there's a good woman. And to all intents and purposes, Pilate had got a good wife. She loved him. The historian Josephus will tell us that Pilate's wife was a Christian. And she was seeing from a distance what was going on, and so she sent a telegram to her husband and said, don't condemn that man. Because I've suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. She was losing sleep about what Pilate might do to Jesus Christ. And maybe tonight, in this meeting, There's a loved one, a father, maybe a mother, maybe a brother or a sister, and they're weeping over your soul. And they're lying in bed at night scared about your soul and about where you will be in God's eternity. The Bible says that the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. Now I certainly don't claim to be an intelligent person. I don't claim to have a very high IQ. I don't know what my IQ is. And I don't claim to be the wisest or most smart person in the world, but I'll tell you I can give you wise counsel tonight and tell you and plead with you to turn to Jesus Christ. You see, Pilate's wife knew that there would be repercussions for the decision that he would make if he made the wrong decision. If Pilate's wife was indeed a Christian, she believed in God's heaven and she believed as well in God's hell. And dear friend, tonight the reason that we are concerned about you, the reason your father and mother weep over you and don't want you to go to certain places is because they're concerned about your soul. Maybe you've got saved companions, maybe you haven't. Maybe somebody's talked to you. I encourage you tonight to listen to them. You see, if I was to see you tomorrow afternoon and you were to step onto the high street in front of a bus I would shout out and tell you to watch out. I wouldn't be afraid of you being offended. It would be an awful thing if you were to stand out in front of a bus and be paralysed and be in a hospital for weeks and I was to come in and visit you and say, well, the fact of the matter is I've seen that bus coming and I kind of smiled at myself because I've seen you stepping out in front of it and you didn't see it coming, did you? And I was just waiting for the big slap and I was scared to say anything in case you'd be offended. Dear friend, you'd take whatever crutches you have and you'd wrap them around my sconce away. And dear friend, do you not think tonight that there's enough love in this preacher's heart or your parents' heart to tell you to stop and turn around because there's a hell and there's a day of judgment and there's a day of recompense? Dear friend, people are only concerned because they love you. And Pilate resisted the impulse of his conscience. He resisted the instruction of his companion, his wife, who came and says, Pilate, listen, don't condemn that just man because I've suffered many things in a dream this day because of him. You see how foolish a judge he was? Pilate was also a foolish judge because he realized the innocence of Christ and still condemned him. Pilate knew why Christ was in the judgment hall. If you look there at verse number 18, it says, for he knew that for envy they had delivered him. You see, he saw through the Pharisees and the false claims that they had made. You see, the Pharisees were envious of Christ's preaching. They were envious of Christ's popularity. They were envious of Christ's person. And they were envious of Christ's power. And the Lord will never give his glory to another. He'll never do that. And they were filled with envy. What a wretched and deplorable thing envy is. You know, whenever Christ came into this world, he bypassed the religious people. And he just went and spoke to the down and outs and the people that were poor and needy. He said, I didn't come even to call the righteous, but I came to call sinners to repentance. I remember a number of years ago knocking doors in Lisbon, the town that I grew up in. And I remember a man came to one of the doors that we knocked and he opened the door and I said what we were about. And we were from one of the local churches. We were giving out gospel literature. And he was an older man. And he says to me, you know, I'm actually in disguise tonight. I didn't know what he meant. And I said, I'm sorry, I don't understand. What do you mean? He says, I'm in disguise tonight. And he says, I'm sorry, you've lost me. I don't know what you're talking about. And then he says, I'm a retired clergyman. And I said, oh. And I just said, well, I just thought to myself, well, still just tell him what we're about. And I says, just we're stating the gospel of Christ. And then he got a bit offended, and he started mentioning Christ. And I says, you know, we're just out telling people that Jesus died for sinners. And he says, you didn't hear me. I'm a retired clergyman. And then I ask him, tell me, are you rejoicing in sins forgiven? And he just closed the door. Christ came not to call the righteous, but he came to call sinners to repentance. Pilate stood up and says, listen, he says, I don't even find a fault in this man. And you know why that is? Because Christ was sinless. He was impeccable. He was perfect. He was never even tempted to sin. He was tempted from without, but he was not tempted from within. You say, how is that possible? It's possible because Jesus Christ was God. You see, people do not realize that whenever they reject Christ, they're rejecting God. All religions do not lead to God. All religions do not lead to heaven. Christ and Christ alone leads to heaven. And so Pilate asks the question, he says, well, what shall I do then with Jesus, which is called the Christ? They didn't give any answer, they just said crucify Him. And then he says, well, why, what evil has He done? And they didn't give an answer, they just said crucify Him. And I ask you tonight, dear friend, why have you not received Christ? Why are you still seeing? What has He ever done to you that you go on rejecting Him? You've got no answer, but you just go on and say, let Him die on the cross. It doesn't concern me. You know, dear friend, tonight, if you're honest, you know that He's innocent. And you know that Christ is a good friend. And you know that He's a good Savior. And you understand it all. And you realize the innocence of Christ, but you still go on resisting the impulse of your conscience, rejecting the instruction of your companions, And you're just as foolish as old Pilate was. The fourth and final reason why I believe Pilate was the most foolish judge in history was because he responded to the influence of the crowd. So easy, isn't it, to run with the crowd? You know, it's amazing. If David Beckham gets his head shaved, so many people do the same. If he gets his hair straightened, people do the same. If he gets his hair bleached, people do the same. You know, whenever I was about 10 or 11, I was starting high school, there was a hairstyle about at that time, and looking back, it was absolutely deplorable what people were doing with their hair. And they would grow it long, and then they would get it shaved up to a certain point, and they'd have a big, it was called a step. Did anybody ever have a step? Would you get one tonight? No, you wouldn't. But because everybody else was doing it, you did it. Whenever I was 16 or 17, it was cool to have curtains. Remember curtains? I grew these big curtains down to the end of my nose, and I tell you, I've seen photographs of it since, and it's absolutely, it's horrendous. Hairstyles that we had. And then there was, remember spiked hair whenever you were 10 or 11? Everybody run about with all this gel, flat tops and all the rest of it. I missed out on so much of it, to be honest, because whenever I was in primary school, my mother cut my hair. And, you know, she cut my brother's hair as well, and she used to sit us in the living room and put a tea towel around us. She used to get these big scissors out, and it was awful, just right across the ears, and then it went up, and then it went straight across, and I used to be called Bonecut and everything else. You know, barber's scissors are usually about this length. And my mother had a big pair of scissors that must have been about a foot long. And if she got it just right, she could take the fringe off in just one snip. And, you know, you'd go into school and people looked at me and they looked at my brother and I'll tell you, they must have thought we were in some sort of cult. These crazy haircuts. And sometimes she wouldn't have got it just straight, it would have been sitting at an angle and they would have thought maybe the bowl just wasn't sitting at horizon level. And I'll tell you, it was absolutely awful, running about with these crazy haircuts. And, you know, it's just so easy, isn't it, to run with the crowd, but it takes guts. It took guts, I'll tell you, for me to go into school with a haircut like that. And Pilate's convictions were, release this man. This man's innocent. I need to trust this man. I need to follow the ways of my wife. And I need to get right with this man. But you know, we responded to the influence of the crowd. And it's so easy, isn't it, for us to do that? The mob swayed his decision. You remember a couple of years back, some of you ladies have come to church, were running about in ponchos. Remember those? Terrible. People coming into church with this poncho thing on and a big hat and they look like Clint Eastwood coming into church with this kind of western poncho. And I'll tell you, my wife was looking at one one day and I says, forget it. Forget it. Don't be running with the crowd because you'll regret it. You'll regret it. And dear friend, it's the same with you. If you respond to the influence of the crowd and you say, well, nobody else is trusting Christ. It must be the right thing to do to shout out, crucify him. It must be the right thing to do to laugh at him, to mock him, to laugh at these Christians. Well, there's safety in the crowd, dear friend, there's not. Remember last night, if you were here, broad is the road that leadeth to destruction. Many there be that go down that way. Few there be that find the narrow way that leadeth to life. Dear friend, the crowd is so often wrong and it will be wrong again. Pilate, you see, wanted to be acceptable. And maybe tonight your only desire in life is that you might be acceptable. I just want to fit in, preacher. Can't you understand that? Yes, I understand that. But dear friend, I would rather fit in with God and fit in with God's crowd than fit in with the ungodly crowd that are going to a lost eternity. You know what the Bible says? It says, blessed, and that word just means happy. Blessed, happy is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight, his happiness, is in the law of God, and in his law doth he meditate day and night." That's why the Apostle Paul could say, I delight in the law of God, after the inward man. Pilate just wanted to be acceptable. He also, I believe, wanted to be successful, and there's nothing wrong with that. Pilate wanted to succeed in politics and in business and in influence with the crowd, and financially he wanted to be successful. And there's nothing wrong, dear friend, with having ambitions. But if those ambitions that you have cause you to run with the crowd and shout out to Jesus, crucify you, die on the cross if you like, Endure hell on the cross, if you like. And if you shout out tonight, crucify him, you might say, well, I'm not going to shout that out, but I'll tell you, I'm not going to receive him. It's the same thing. And in doing that, you're just saying to Jesus Christ, having heard the gospel night after night in your Christian home, from your Christian companions, knowing that whenever Christ was on the cross, he suffered terribly, physically. He also suffered emotionally. He suffered spiritually because the wrath of God and God's hell was compressed through his soul as he hung upon the cross during those three hours of darkness. And you understand that? What you're saying tonight is this. You're saying, Jesus, I know who you are. I know that you're God's Son. I know that you're only way to heaven. I know that you died on the cross for sinners. I know that you died for my sin. But listen, go to hell because I'll not have you to rule over me. You send that dear friend to the Son of God. Pilate suffered, you see, from the fear of man. He sinned against his own conscience. He sinned against his own companion, his wife. He sinned against Christ all because of the cross. And in doing so, he damned his own soul. It's often been said, and it's true, that your friends will laugh you into hell, but they'll never laugh you out. The old crowd hated Jesus. They hated the Lord Jesus Christ. They hated the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And they just wanted him to be crucified. Why is that? Because he told the truth. He called a spade a spade. He called sin for what it is. And maybe tonight you do not like this man, Jesus Christ, because he exposes your sin. Maybe you don't like him because you think he'll spoil your fun. Because he's so holy and he requires you to be holy as well. You see, those who stand for Jesus might not be popular. But I'll tell you something, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God. I'd rather be a doormat in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. And so they said, listen, crucify Jesus. We don't want that man. But listen, release on to us the rabbits. Release on to us this notable sinner. You see, they wanted their sin rather than the Savior. And maybe tonight you're just the same. You're like the old farmers out, I think it was in India that I heard about. And over here we've problems with crows and rabbits spoiling the flock. You know what it is out there? Monkeys. And the farmers in India have a very ingenious way of killing the little monkeys. They'll get a coconut shell. They'll hollow a little hole about the size of a 10 pence piece out of it. They'll put a few nuts inside, and they'll tie a string to the end of the coconut, and they'll set these all around their crops. And they'll tie a string onto it, and they'll wait behind their crops with a big club. And they'll see the little monkey coming along. They'll maybe give the string a bit of a tug, and the monkey will hear the rattle. And it'll see the nuts, and it'll smell them. And it puts its little hand just through that hole. And then it puts its hand around the nut. And because it wants the nut or the fruit so badly, it makes a fist around it and it can't get its little hand out of the hole any longer. And so the farmer, he just begins to pull the string. And the little monkey hops along and hops along because it just wants the nut, you see. And it can't get its hand out of the hole. And then whenever it gets close enough, the farmer just takes the club and beats it over the head. And that's the end of the monkey. Quite ingenious, isn't it? And maybe tonight you're just the same. There's one sin in your life. There's maybe a girlfriend, there's maybe a boyfriend, there's maybe an internet site, there's maybe some pleasure in your life, it's maybe the cigarettes, it's maybe the drink, it's maybe your old stubborn religious pride, it's maybe the fear of man. One sin that you will not yield to Christ, and you'll not confess, and you're holding on to that little sin, and all the while the devil's pulling you along, and you're just hopping along like a silly old monkey. And dear friend, I want to tell you that the God of this world has blinded your minds. that ye might believe not. And that one sin, whatever it is, is going to damn your soul. Jesus Christ says, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Is that not a wonderful promise? Would you not long to have rest tonight and peace tonight with God? Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth? That's something, friend, that the world will never give. And yet this man that's standing before Pilate's judgment throne is the only one that can give it. And you're saying, give me the world. Take Jesus, but give me the world. I'm glad tonight I can say, take the world, but give me Jesus. All its joys are but a name. Old Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And so old Pilate, the most foolish judge in history, the one who resisted the impulse of his conscience, and rejected the instruction of a companion, and realized the innocence of Christ, and responded to the influence of the crowd, says, well, and he just gave Christ over. And he got a little beast, and he washed his hands, and says, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person. You know, he's not innocent. He's not innocent. He's guilty. And you're guilty tonight. You say, well, where am I guilty? You're guilty, if nothing else, for not receiving Christ. Jesus Christ is God. The first and greatest commandment is that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul and strength. And if you're rejecting Christ, you've broken the first and greatest commandment, and you're just like Pilate, and you can wash your hands or do whatever you like. And dear friend, let me say, just in closing, that there will come a day, whenever for Pilate and for every other Christ-rejecter, that the rules will be turned around. You see, that day Pilate was the one in the judgment seat and Christ was the one standing before him. And I want to tell you that there's a day coming whenever the positions will be reversed and there'll be a bit of a, there'll be trading places and there'll be a bit of a swap because you will stand before the great white throne, the great judgment seat of God and Christ in all his glory will sit on that throne and will judge you for your sin. Robert Murray McShane said, whenever sinners stand at the great white throne and God exposes their sin, he says they will run to the lake of fire just to get out of the presence of Almighty God. Their roles will be reversed and your soul will be lost. Pilate, the most foolish judge in history, that day damned his own soul. And your soul is the most precious thing that you possess. The most precious thing that you possess is not your car or your family even or your boyfriend or your girlfriend or your house or your job. It's not even your body or your health and strength. The most precious thing that you possess is your soul. And the Bible says, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul? I remember reading a story once about a man from this country in which we live. It was during the time of the potato famine, and he was going over to America, to the New World, to try and set up a living. And so he sold what property he had, and he sold up the farm, and with the money that he got together, he used the local currency to buy himself a diamond, that he might transport all his wealth in that diamond, and then sell that diamond whenever he got to New York, or wherever it was, and set up home there. Standing in the ship that was travelling across the Atlantic Ocean, this man was standing in the deck and he put his hand into his pocket and the little boy was sitting in the deck watching. And he couldn't believe his eyes that this man took out a great diamond and he'd never seen anything like it in his life and he just held it up to the light this far. And it turned all sorts of colours and the rays of the sun just shone through and the little boy thought it was an amazing thing. And he threw the diamond up in the air and caught it. And the little boy ran over to him and says, sir, is that a diamond in your hand? And he says, yes, it is. He says, I can't believe that you're taking it out of your pocket on the deck of a ship, and furthermore, you've thrown it up into the air. What should happen if you should lose that diamond? And he says, well, I suppose if I was honest, I would lose everything because all my wealth is in this one diamond. And the wee fellow says, well, you're a bit stupid, aren't you? Throwing it up and down like that, you're going to lose it. And he says, well, he says, I have confidence in myself. And he lifted it up in front of the boy, and he threw it away up in the air. And as the diamond came down, I don't know what happened, whether it bounced off his finger, but the diamond fell out of his hand and rolled onto the deck over the side of the ship and into the sea. And the little boy just smiled at him and says, so you're a friend. And that man's heart was broken. And we can all see the absolute fallacy in that, can't we? Playing with something that's so, so precious. But let me tell you tonight that if you're not converted, and you're still in your sin, you are a far bigger fool than that man ever was. Because that ship represents your life. That diamond represents your soul. And that sea represents God's eternity. And if you're not in Christ tonight, you're playing with sin and playing with your soul and God has got absolutely no obligation whatsoever to save your soul or to speak to you again. And if your soul is lost, and it could be lost even tonight, your soul will go out into God's eternity, and you're lost forever. Dear friend, you need to come to Christ. May God speak to your heart. And may you taste and see that the Lord is good. God loves you. Jesus Christ died on the cross for sinners. And He'll save you tonight, if you come. Don't be a fool like Pilate. Come to Christ. That's all there is. It's been said in nights past that if you're concerned about eternal things, maybe you are backslidden tonight, maybe you're cold at heart, maybe you're not even sure whether you're a Christian or not, maybe you know fine well that you're not saved. If you're concerned, stay and speak to us. I'll be standing out at the door there. I'll have a few little booklets with me entitled A New Beginning. If you would like one, ask me for one. David will be in the building somewhere as well. Speak to a believer in Christ, but don't leave without getting saved. Your soul is precious. Don't throw it away. Don't throw away this opportunity. Our Father, we thank Thee for this meeting tonight. We thank Thee, O God, for the testimony. We thank Thee for Thy precious Word. And Father, we pray in Jesus' name that Your Spirit will strive and that Thou will draw sinners to Christ and save precious never-dying souls. We pray in Jesus' precious name.