Gooding, David: 4 - God is His Own Evidence

It is indeed for me a pleasure to be with you here again this evening, and to attempt to answer questions that, as I understand it, were put largely by the young people associated with this church. Tonight, my topic is entitled God is his own evidence. What that means I shall explain in a moment, but let's introduce ourselves to the topic by three brief readings from Holy Scripture. The first is to be found in Psalm nineteen. Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them. There is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eye. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Another brief passage I would like to put alongside of that is to be found in the Gospel of John and chapter twenty. Gospel of John, chapter twenty. And there we begin to read in verse thirty. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. One further verse will, uh, suffice us for the moment for our reading. It is found in Paul's epistle to the Romans. And it is chapter ten and verse seventeen. So faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. And may God give us good understanding, then, of his word. My title then for this evening's talk is God is His own evidence. And perhaps that sounds a little strange to you, put just like that. But I have devised the title against the background of many who say that faith in God is without any foundation in evidence. They contrast faith in what they call religion with science, and they point out that in science you have facts established, real, solid facts that the scientists have discovered by studying the universe around them, discovering the principles upon which it works, and then formulated them in scientific theories that, if they are eventually proved true by experience, are regarded as scientific knowledge. And say many people, you know, that's what we're in for. We prefer science to religion because science is based on fact. Whereas religion, they say, is altogether taken up with faith, you see. And in their mind, faith is like the schoolboy said, faith is believing things that you know are not true, you'll say. Ah. But of course, that is not true, is it? We all of us believe in a thousand things that are not told us by science, you'll say. You believe your mother loves you? Well, that's not science that told you that. Um, do you believe that gentleman across the way who's wanting to sell you something is a reasonable fellow and liable to honor the faith and trust you put in him? You do? Well, it's not science told you that either. We believe ten thousand things because we say to ourselves they are self-evident. In fact, our lives are made up of faith. You're going to work tomorrow? How do you know the sun is going to rise tomorrow? Well, you say it's done so for many, many thousands of years. That's no proof, is it, it's going to rise tomorrow. If you are demanding absolute proof that the sun is going to rise tomorrow, it's no good, uh, quoting past experience. For philosophical proof, you would have to go elsewhere, wouldn't you? And where else would you go? So you act in faith that tomorrow the sun is going to rise, and you proceed about your daily work. Ten thousand and one things we all believe, not because they have been proved to us by philosophical proof, but because, in one sense, that's the only way life becomes possible, to act in faith, and because we think there is very good evidence for our faith. So when I, uh, uh, describe the title of my talk this evening as God is His own evidence, I'm saying that faith in God is not a leap in the dark. I find there are many folks who imagine that faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in religion, as they call it, is a leap in the dark. You have to decide to believe without any evidence. That is not true. God has supplied us with abundant evidence for his existence and asked for our faith on the basis of that evidence. And when it comes to trusting Jesus Christ, our Lord, faith in Christ is not a leap in the dark. The verse we read from the Gospel of John tells us, these things are written, these signs, these miracles are recorded as evidence for you. Evidence to call forth your faith. Evidence is solid enough for your faith. God does not require us to take a leap in the dark in order to trust his son. God has provided abundant evidence. When I say God is his own evidence, I mean finally this, that if you are ever going to be convinced, and not only convinced, but to believe in Jesus Christ, God's son, then it won't be because some preacher has persuaded you. It will mean that you will have to hear Christ himself talking to you through his word, because that third passage we read tells us how faith comes. It's not simply that we make up our mind we're going to believe come what may. Faith, we're told, comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. You know, there's nothing mysterious about that, actually. I'm told, though I know very little about these things, that in the great cities of business, many a deal worth billions of money is concluded as a couple of businessmen discuss the deal and shake hands on it. At least that's how it used to be. And once they had shaken hands, they regarded it as good as a legal settlement. To go back on that was a very serious misdemeanor. How does a man come to trust another man? How does a woman trust a another a a man to be her husband, anyway? How do they go about it? One of the way a man will go about it trusting another man is to listen to him talk and speak. Of course, you'll watch his behavior pattern, won't you? And all his little knickknacks of behavior, his bodily language. But it is as you listen to somebody, you find yourself saying, well, so and so, you know, he sounds to me like a reliable, genuine man. Or perhaps you find the contrary. You say, well, it was a very clever scheme he put up to me, but there's something about him, it's the way the way he talks, you know, and the phrases he use. I think there's something suspect about him. Faith, even in business circles, frequently comes by listening to somebody speak. And God's word says that faith in God, faith in Christ as our Savior, comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. So that what I have to do tonight is to persuade you, if I possibly can, by God's help, to listen to Christ. Let him speak to you. I once was at a meeting where a missionary gave a report of his work on the field. He had been a colorful character before he got converted, then he had put his faith in Christ, and very soon thereafter he felt the inner compulsion to go and be a missionary in Italy. After he'd finished, I was wandering around in the room, uh, in the lecture room, and came across this good lady who announced that she was the mother of this missionary. And she confided in me, you see, she says, they all tell me I need to get converted, but you see, she says, I just can't believe. What would you say to a person like that? My response would be, yeah, I dare say you can't believe. But if you want to believe, the first thing you'll have to start doing is to listen to Christ. Let him talk to you. For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. So then God is his own evidence, and God speaks to us, does he not? God, so we're told, has various books. The first mighty great part of the evidence that God puts in front of us is this universe around us. The heavens declare the glory of God, says God's word. The universe around us is God speaking to us. You say, but um, the scientists have examined the universe around, and they don't need God to explain anything, do you see? If they understand how everything works, well, if not quite everything yet, but they have found out how much works and how it works and what are the principles it works on, they don't need God to explain anything. Anything. And I hear that repeated time and time again. BBC Radio four, as they examine this scientist and the other scientist, and both of them are saying, well, we understand how the world, the universe works, and we don't need God to help us explain it. But it's a fallacious argument, isn't it? You have a car, yeah? It's, what is it? A BMW, I should think, looking at you. Uh, the last word of a BMW, yeah. Marvelous machine, isn't it? Do you know what? If only I could, uh, master a little bit of, of car mechanics, then presently, if I studied hard, I could decide how it all works. I could see lifting the bonnet and looking at the engine and poking a screwdriver in here and there, a- a- a- and generally seeing if it works this way or that way. I could come to understand how it all works, that complicated system, including its brain, if you please. Marvelous. Mm-hmm. And what if I then decide that, well, now I understand, of course, how the thing works. I don't need to suppose that there was anybody who designed it. What would you say to me? Because I can understand how it works. I can dismiss the notion that somebody made it and designed it. Would say, no, that's a fallacy. And just because scientists can explain how the universe works, doesn't mean that they are logically right to say that they don't need a designer behind the universe and a creator who created it. Of course not. They're two different things. And you know, even the scientists themselves admit it, that there are two very big problems that science, by definition, cannot solve, and that is where the universe came from. And secondly, what was the purpose, what is the purpose behind our universe? Science cannot tell you that. Tell you how the thing works. What would you say of me, well, if I said I can understand, you know, how your BMW works, I understand all the innards of it, I could describe it, you see. I don't need to think that there was some designer who designed it. I, I, because I can understand how it works. And you said to me, yes, but do you know what this car is for? I said, no, I don't know. Why should I have a motor car? I don't know. What's the purpose of it? I don't know. You would say, well, stupid man. I mean, knowing how it works is one thing, but knowing what it's for is another, and there are multitudes of ladies and gentlemen like me who don't know how the thing works, but I know what it's for and how to make it go and how to use it. But when it comes to our universe, and when it comes to human life within it, science, by definition, cannot tell you the reason why you and I are on this planet, the reason for its existence, and where it's all going to. And they, after all, are the more important questions, aren't they? Not knowing how the car works, but knowing what it's for and where it's meant to be going. Where should we find that? It's there we come back, first of all, to the universe itself. For it is God's message to us. God speaks in the universe around us. And the message is spelled out in the New Testament. For what can be known about God by us? Since the creation of the world is made obvious, being seen in the things that are made around us. And what message does it carry? One, that there is a God. Two, that he is almighty. Three, that he's a God of righteousness, and one day will judge sin. The universe carries a message, you know. Let me use an inappropriate illustration. Suppose you hear in the paper that a bomb went off in the middle of, um, whatever it is, you'll see, in Manchester. The experts might tell you how it worked, this bomb. This is a terrorist bomb, and what they used was this chemical and the other chemical, and uh, and putting all together with an electrical something or other, they managed to explode this bomb in some thickly populated part of the city. Mm-hmm. You would want to know another question, wouldn't you? It's a terrorist bomb, okay, but what was the terrorist saying by it? But not even terrorists just plant bombs for the fun of it. They're making a statement, aren't they? Do you know what God is saying by this universe? You can understand how it works if you're scientist enough, but what is God saying by it? He's saying that this universe comes from an almighty being. He is not human, he is God. He is not al- only almighty, he is divine. And secondly, he is a God of righteousness, and one day will hold us accountable for the way we have behaved in his universe. There was a great philosopher in Europe in the seventeen hundreds and onwards. His name was Immanuel Kant. His work was so penetrating that he is still regarded in high regard in many places around this world. Kant said this. Why did he believe in God? He said, the moral law within me and the starry heavens above me convince me there must be a God. God. Did you watch the moon going into an eclipse last night? Perhaps not. I did simply because I have an interest in astronomy. What a magnificent universe it is, isn't it? Magnificent universe. Now we understand how it works, only makes it the more magnificent. And now we understand a bit more about its size and the billions of the galaxies that inhabit the universe, the more wonderful it becomes, and the more wonderful the almighty power of the Creator who made it. If you say to me, but a lot of scientists don't believe in a God, that is perfectly true. But there are some who do. Let me quote you what one of them says. I'm going to quote you the words of Paul Davies. He is a mathematical physicist. He is an atheist, and he doesn't believe in God. But let me tell you what he says. He says that after all his examinations of this universe, says he, the universe is rational all the way down to metaphysics. What does he mean? The universe is rational on the way it works, right down and before it even began. There must have been a rational intelligence behind this universe. And he's an atheist, if you please. Yes. And then he observes this second point about our universe. Um, the more we dis- we study the universe and how it works, the more beautiful it becomes. The mathematics behind the universe, or the mathematical laws that would describe how the universe goes, what makes it go, say the mathematicians are exceedingly beautiful. Amazing the mathematical laws that the universe obeys. Yes? And Professor Paul Davies expands upon this at great length. And then he adds this. What an astonishing fact it is, says he, because he's an evolutionist and believe we just evolved like monkeys, you know. He says that we've evolved far enough so that we, with our little brains, can turn round on the universe and understand how the thing works. It's amazing, isn't it? Well, even I, I, I'd begun when I looked at the moon last night going into eclipse. Do you know what? I understood that little bit. It was only a tiny bit, isn't it? But I understand it. Thank God for science. In the old days, when the moon went into an eclipse, people didn't understand why it went, and the women came out with the bin lids and bashed them on the ground because they thought a spirit or a demon had got hold of the moon, and they were chasing a demon away. Well, in Belfast, they use bin lids in the times gone by for other things as well, I know. But do see, uh, we know how it happens, and it is amazing, isn't it? The precision of the, uh, mathematical laws that govern our sun and its planets, so they can send a man to, to, to, uh, to, uh, the moon, about to send one to Mars, and time the exact going there, because the universe acts like that according to mathematical laws, and the wonder is we can understand them. Amazing. So what does that, uh, lead Professor Davis to conclude? And he's an atheist. He says the fact that we humans can turn round on the universe and understand how it works means that we are truly meant to be here. It's not an accident. We can understand it. Of course, if I got the chance to get within a foot or two of Professor Davis, I should want to ask him what he exactly meant. You say, sir, we're meant to be here? Who meant us to be here? Well, somebody did ask him once, Professor Davis, you must believe in God then. No, he said. Why not? I don't like God. Don't like the idea of God. And there's the secret, isn't it? We're not unbiased, we human beings. And deep within the human heart, there's an antagonism against admitting that there is a God who made us. As the late Professor Lewontin said in one of his articles, we materialists, meaning we atheists, we often come up with ideas that are counter to common sense. Why do we do it? Because we cannot allow the divine foot in the door. If you ask Professor Davis what, uh, planned the universe and made it, and us as well, he'll say, well, I think and I hope it will turn out to be some very clever mathematical laws that will have been, uh, responsible for creating the universe. Well, that is so laughable, you'd be inclined to laugh in his face, wouldn't you? I could wish it were true. If it were mathematical laws that create a universe, I would get out a bit of paper and I would work out the sum ten times a million, and that is ten million, as I understand it. So you cannot ref- you cannot refute my mathematics. ten times a million is ten million. And then I should take it down to the bank and say, look here, manager, uh, there's, do you see this? This is a mathematical formula. Ten times a million is a, uh, is ten million. Now, where is my money in your bank? Where is my ten million? Well, he'd say, don't be stupid, man. Your mathematical formula can't produce anything. Why do scientists get up to such notions? Because they don't like God. And some of them are honest enough to say so. But God speaks, and the universe itself is his message. And listening to it, we need to be aware that God says he has given us this evidence that we may be without excuse. There is a God then. But let's come to our ble- blessed Lord Jesus Christ. For God not only has spoken in creation, he has spoken supremely in the person of his dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And these things, says the New Testament, are written. This is the evidence for you, that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and believing have life through his name. Faith comes by hearing, says Scripture, and hearing by the word of Christ. So shall we not listen for a moment to some of the things Christ says? And some of you say to me, oh, but you're now going to quote the Bible, I suppose. Yes. Well, they say we don't believe it anyway. So? What? You don't believe it, so you're not prepared to read it. Is that what you say? No, you say, but what's the good of my reading if I don't believe it's the inspired word of God? So I, I, I, what's the good of my reading it? Well, you read the daily newspaper, don't you? And that certainly isn't inspired of God. And you know a lot that you find in the daily newspaper will be false. You nevertheless read it. Because you're able, you say, to use your moral judgment on what is right and what is wrong. You know, when the great Apostle Paul went to preach in cities where he'd never preached before, such as in Athens, he didn't stand up in the marketplace and say, now first, you Athenians, the first thing you have to do is to admit I'm an inspired apostle. Well, the Greeks would have looked at him a little funnily, do they? Of course he didn't say it. What did he do then? He just preached Christ. And some of them, as they listened to the words of Christ through the apostle Paul, found those words true. And they came to believe that Paul was an inspired apostle, and the word of God is true. Okay, you don't believe yet that the word of the the New Testament is the word of God, but read it, I pray. Read it. Listen to Christ. Let him talk to you. After all, he's the only man that ever walked our earth that is credibly regarded as being God incarnate. Will you not let him talk to you? What will he say? On two occasions he said to his contemporaries, I am the light of the world. That is recorded in John chapter eight, and the same statement in John chapter nine, where our Lord repeats it, I am the light of the world. Did I hear you say prove it? Well, that's a very interesting idea. How do you prove a thing, a light is a light? Have you ever tried? Suppose I introduced you to my house, and you've not been in it before, and it was pitch black when we entered, and I said to you, I have a little switch just inside this door, and all you have to do is to press it down, and a light comes on. You say, I don't believe it. Oh, well, I said, I'll have a go then. Uh, I press it on, and a light comes up. I say, there is the light, my boy. Hm. He says, prove to me it's a light. Well, now what would you say? How could a man be so stupid as to say, prove that's a light? What is the proof? How do we know it's a light? Well, we know it's a light because when the light comes on, we see things that we didn't see before. Isn't that the evidence? Christ says, I'm the light of this world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. And the story is told of how some of his critics brought a woman to him who had been caught in the very act of adultery, and they brought her to Christ and said, Master, Moses in the law said that such a woman should be stoned. What do you say? But John the Evangelist tells us that their, their question was not genuine. It was a trick question. They thought that they could trick Christ whatever way he answered. If he said, yes, carry out the law of Moses and stone her, they would have run down the road to Pilate the governor, because it was illegal for Jews to execute anybody. And if he said, no, don't stone her, they'd have gone to the people and said, there you are, he doesn't even believe the Bible. How can he be the Christ? It was a trick question. They were getting not at her, but at him, you see, trying to discredit him. And when he heard their question, he bowed down and he wrote upon the ground with his finger. And when he finished, he lifted himself up and he said, you gentlemen, whoever among you is without sin, let him throw the first stone at this woman. And he bowed down to write the second time on the ground. And then, an interesting thing happened. These accusers, they began to turn round, from the oldest down to the younger, and walked out. And as I read that story, I sort of find myself getting involved in it. I think I'm there, you know, and I say, come back, you stupid men. By going away, you're admitting you're sinners. Come back. Stand in front of him. Brazen it out. Why didn't they? The fact is, you come and stand before Christ. If they had dared to try and brazen it out, he would have exposed them. He knew what was in man. Here was the light shining, and it exposed them. When we come near to Christ and read his word and let him start talking to us, sooner or later we shall find him true. He is the light of the world. We shall not need it proved. We shall see things about ourselves that before were perhaps obscured or we had hidden. We shall discover we are sinners beside Christ. He is the light, you know. That's why people don't like to get too near him. I'm always glad that the woman stayed. Well, she couldn't run away, could she? So when he lifted himself up the second time, he said to the woman, has no one condemned you? She said, no, Lord, no, sir. He says, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. He wasn't saying, of course, that adultery is okay. It was a question, everybody knew she was an adulteress. The question was, should the penalty be executed on her? And he said, no, I do not require the penalty to be exacted on you. How could he say that? And remain the judge of all mankind. Because a comparatively few months later, he was to go to the cross on Calvary and bear the penalty of that woman's sin, as he bore God's holy indignation against sin on her behalf, that she might be forgiven. Will you let Christ speak to you? He claims to be the light. He will surely, surely show us all our sinfulness. Oh, but what a wonderful light he brings into life. There's a way of forgiveness and reconciliation with God. There's a way that we can avoid the eternal penalty of our sin. There's a way back to God from the dark paths of sin. There's a door that is opened that all may go in. It's at Calvary's cross where we must begin when we come as a sinner to Jesus. Oh, what a light that is to flood the soul when on the authority of Christ we know ourselves forgiven and right ready for God's heaven. I'm the light of the world, he said. He said it again in the very next chapter. Because there, you'll see, if we pay attention to the text, we shall find him dealing with a very different kind of person. There it was a man blind, physically blind. He'd been born blind, never had seen. And our Lord is the light of this world, and the story is how he gave that man sight. He'd never had sight. It was a question of Christ creating the sight in him. You see, Christ is the light of this world. But if a person is blind, physically, he can't see the physical light, can he? And if a person is blind spiritually, they can't see the spiritual light. Isn't that so? This blind man was ever going to see. He would need for Christ to do the miracle upon him and give him sight to see with. That's what our Lord did to this man. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to do it. Well, have a go. Well, don't have a go, no, that would be too embarrassing. But you try to describe what s- light is and sight is to somebody that's been born blind. You say, you're, I'm sorry for you, sir, you were born blind, and you men born blind, oh, that's terrible, terrible, terrible. What you do, miss. You see, if only you had sight, you'd be able to see the color you see. And the person says, what is color? Oh, co- color, well, color is, um, like daffodils are yellow, you. What are daffodils? Oh. Well, it's a difficult thing, isn't it? To convince somebody born blind that there is a thing called light, there is a something called color. How would you go about it? That's why, you know, to many people who are spiritually blind, and they hear the gospel, and it seems, the Bible says it, foolishness to them. How do you convince them it's true? Mm. Our Lord came to the blind man, and we're told that he spat on the ground, made clay of the mud, and put it on the man's eyes, and told him to wash in one of the local pools. It was called the Pool of Siloam, and he would come see. What would you have done if you would have been that blind man? Is this to you a stranger? And you're sitting here begging all this long time, blind? Uh-huh. You've heard people talking about sight, you don't know what on earth it is or what it means. And here comes this stranger with a proposal that you, you should put this stuff on his eyes, can't see what it is, but anyway, uh, uh, he's now got to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash. Would you have gone? I wonder what went on in the man's head when the proposal was made. Well, perhaps I, I, I, I, my imagination might be somewhere near correct. He had to ask himself, didn't he, who is this Jesus Christ? Is he a downright fool? Is he a charlatan? Is he a showman at some showground? Is he trying to make money out of religion or something? What might you think of this? Christ is saying to us tonight, saying to you maybe, I could give you sight, spiritual sight. You would see clearly who I am, that I am God's own son, and I can give you eternal life. That's what he says. That will make you surely begin to decide, what am I to think of this Jesus? Can he do this? You prepared for to make a little experiment? You say, what kind of an experiment? Well, with this blind man, the Lord Jesus told him to go and wash in a pool called Siloam, and the evangelist John tells us what that name meant, do you see? It's not like the Ormo Baths situated down the Ormo Road or something. It had a special name on this, but it was the water, the pool of Siloam, and in Hebrew, Shiloach means the one who has been sent. And our Lord, of course, by this illustration, was claiming before this man that he himself was the one sent by God, prophesied of in the whole of the Old Testament, sent by God. Well, how could the blind man find out whether it was true or not? Well, say there was one way he could. He could have done the experiment that the Lord, uh, asked him to do, and have gone to the pool of Siloam and washed, and see what happened. And most of the way the man went. He'd nothing to lose anyway, had he? And he went and came seeing. Would you be prepared to listen to Christ? And do, let me use the odd word, an experiment. Christ will tell you that he is God's son, the one sent from God, prophesied of throughout centuries in the Old Testament, who was born of a virgin into our world and came into our world to save sinners, and died to give his life a ransom for many. Would you be prepared to read what his word says? And see if he speaks to you, and if he does what he promises and gives you the sight? Or do you think that Jesus Christ is a sheer deceiver, not worth listening to, is fooling around with you? What do you think of Jesus Christ? How will you find him? Unless you now respond to him. He's offering you, if you've never had it before, he's offering you the gift of eternal life, the gift of spiritual sight, so that you will come to see that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and through believing that, have life in his name. I was in Jordan some years ago with a friend of mine who went to be a missionary doctor among Muslims and worked in the hospital at Irbid. His colleagues in the medical faculty and some others invited me and him to dinner one night. They were all of them Muslims, you see. And after dinner, you know how these things do, the, uh, conversation turned this way and that and eventually came round to what people call religion, you see. And said they, because they were very charming men, not arrogant nor persecuting either. They said to me, you know, all this strife between Muslims and Christians is absolute nonsense, they said. Absolute nonsense. We all believe the same thing. Surely we do, don't we? And, uh, it's about time we packed up fighting each other and realized we all believe exactly the same things, they say. Just one thing they said. You changed the Bible, haven't you? I said, really? I didn't know we had. Yes, they said, you have, yes, changed the Bible. Oh, I said, how's that? Well, you say that Jesus died, didn't you, on the cross? Well, he didn't die. For our Muslim friends, this is what they believe. They believe Jesus was born of a virgin, and they believe, uh, he was announced by a prophet, John the Baptist. They believe he is Messiah. They believe he's coming again. They believe he's in heaven at the moment, where Muhammad himself is in the grave. Curious. But they will not have it, that he died. So they were quite firm on me of, you see, you Christians have changed the Bible, haven't you? Uh, to say that Jesus died when he didn't die, but otherwise we all believe the same thing. So I said to them, I wonder if you'd let me read you a little passage. Oh yes, if you want to. I had a pocket Bible with me, and I pulled it out, you see, and I said, now I'm just going to tell you that what I'm reading now was written, uh, perhaps, um, uh, six, seven hundred years before Christ was born, and we Christians didn't write it, and we certainly haven't changed it. Can I read it to you? Yes, they said, do. And I read them from Psalm fifty three. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripe we are healed. Pleased the Lord in his purpose to bruise him. He had put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seeds, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. All we, like sheep, had gone astray. We turned everyone to his own way. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. Written hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born, said I to the Muslims. They said, you're going to say that's Jesus, aren't you? I said, well, I will say that in a moment, but I wasn't saying it just yet, do you see? I was saying that this was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. And we Christians didn't write it, and there it stands. Wonderful, isn't it? Who do you think Jesus is? You prepared at least to do the experiment? Would you take that chapter of Isaiah chapter fifty three, and read it, and then listen to what Christ says about it. How that he bore our sins in his body on the tree, and if you will have it, died as a ransom for your soul. I tell you this. You'll have to decide about that. Faith will come by hearing God's word. But the only one that will ever talk to you like that is Jesus Christ. You'll only have to decide it once. There is no other in the whole of history, nor in present day world, in any religion, that will come alongside you and say, my dear, I am your creator, and you, like the rest of mankind, have sinned and stand under the judgment of God. But I love you. I love you with the creator's love, and to save you, I died at Calvary on a cross, bearing sin in my body, the sins of the world in my body, that you might be forgiven. Reason, if nothing else, tells us that we shall have to make some response to what our Lord is saying. God help us to make the right response. Shall we pray? Father, now we believe that thou has been interested in the course of this session. And as we have read thy word and thought about it, and thy message to us men and women. We thank thee that thine eye has been upon us, and thy Holy Spirit has been searching our hearts. Help us now, Lord, as we realize we must make some response to thee, that we might read thy word seriously and give the opportunity to speak to us, that if never before, yet in reading thy word, we might find that we become believers, as faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Those of us that have long since been believers, Lord, strengthen our faith, we pray, as we read thy word and hold converse with thee, that our faith be strengthened as the days go by. So hear us and bless our meeting, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.