Behold His Hands and His Feet - Donny Swartzentruber

Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. It's a blessing to

be here with you again tonight. I'm thankful that again

that birth and I can be here and enjoy this

time with you as I mentioned last evening, and be

so happy to keep my seat, but happy to serve

as well endeavor to by God's grace, It's been a

blessing being here. I'm thankful for the songs we could

sing together, the prayer just offered, and God bless you

for your support and prayers in the behalf of these services.

And you know, as I think of us being together

here tonight, I want to invite you to gather around

the one that said something that's so meaningful tonight and

like greet you in his name, the one that once

met with the disciples and he said something so meaningful

and with such depth of meaning in that setting. This

was so important for them to hear these words when

Jesus said he said, behold my hands and my feet.

And later this evening, we hope to look at that

some more. We want to think about how drastically it

changed the hearts, the emotional things that were going on

in the hearts of disciples. When Jesus spoke those meaningful words. Tonight,

we again are thankful for everyone here. It's a blessing

to be able to say a few more of your names,

like Scott Schwartz and Druber not quite Trueber, but almost,

and many of you others. We learned some of your

names last evening, and Derek Weaver and Daniel Schruck and

Willie Durstein. And today we were blessed to have some

time with Darren and Ruby Burkie, and so we can

say a few more names, and we're looking forward to

even learning to know more of your names. It's a

blessing being here with you, children. We're so happy to

have you here tonight. It's a blessing having you here.

And we've just enjoyed seeing you children, and just a

few things for you this evening. One thing is, you know,

just before coming up here, I was thinking about when

Jesus was here on earth, and Jesus was doing so

many wonderful things, amazing things. He was healing the sick

and the blind, and he took a little some bread

and fish that a little boy gave him, and he

multiplied it and fed thousands of people and Jesus was

so busy doing so many things, And then there was

a time there were a lot of children around, and

you know, the grown ups thought that Jesus has too

many important things to be doing to take time for

the children. But Jesus said something like, you know, let

the children come to me and forbid them not for

if such is the kingdom of heaven. And we're just

glad to see you children here tonight. So just a

few words for you here this evening. So how many

of you children, you know, maybe your daddies have something

in your home that they have mounted, you know, like

they've mounted maybe a deer head or a bear skin,

or who knows what. You know, probably quite a few

of you have in your home. Your daddy might have

mounted a fish or something like that. Well, I have

I have a mount up here with me this evening

that i'd like to show you children. Now it's really small,

it's not very big, but to me, it's a very

special mount. It It was a living insect at one time,

and now I have it. I have it, it's mounted,

and I'm privileged to have it. And I'd like to

share a few things with your children about that. This evening.

So this is I don't have any mounted deer heads

and fish and those other things, but I do have

a mounted butterfly, a mounted butterfly, and that is to me.

It's such a beautiful butterfly. And at one time that

was a living butterfly that was, you know, could fly

around like butterflies do. And children, I've been so blessed

to just see you and observe you, and in some

ways you remind me of like a butterfly. You know,

butterflies are like light and free. And you know, I

haven't seen any of you children that are like six, seven, eight,

nine years old throwing a temper tantrum and being mad

and angry and fussing and slapping your brothers or sisters.

I haven't seen anything like that happening. And I want

to tell you tonight if you'd be doing things like that,

can you tell me would you be happy if you

do things like that to your little sister sitting beside you?

Would you be happy? Okay? You don't know, Well, I

don't think you'd be happy if you'd be like that,

you know, if your a little sister sitting beside your mama.

You know, if today you would have slapped her in

the face and she'd have cried, and all kinds of

things like that. You wouldn't be happy, you wouldn't look

you wouldn't be looking like a butterfly, oh would you?

And I haven't seen anything like that, but I've seen

some of you children do very nice things for each other,

sharing toys and things like that. I just want to

tell you a little bit about butterflies and some things

that are meaningful about butterflies. So how did butterflies, you know,

how did this beautiful butterfly have it start? It? Had

it start with, you know, with a little egg that

was you know, placed on probably some kind of a

leaf somewhere or something. And so butterflies begin with eggs

that are laid and then something happens the egg, you know,

it matures and gets older and it hatches. And I

want to show you a picture tonight of what happens

in this cycle. Many of those little eggs are hatched

and they become like a caterpillar. And isn't that just beautiful?

Sometimes we think of little worms, you know, not necessarily

being pretty, but you know that is really a beautiful worm,

a caterpillar, and that is the process of what happens

in a for a butterfly to be hatched, well from here,

then from here it goes into a process. Usually those

caterpillars will go and latch on a limb somewhere or something.

And I'm sorry, I don't have a very good picture

at all of a chrysalis, and I really appreciate it. Tonight,

Gabriella is downstairs trying to help me get this thing

enlarged on the copy machine, but we could not quite

get it done, and so it's just really a little

picture here to not right. But this is a chrysalis.

And so then these caterpillars go and latch on a

limb somewhere or something, and then it looks kind of

dried up and ugly.

But out of that chrysalis then comes a butterfly in

something like we have here mounted this evening, and something

very beautiful and so tonight I just want to tell

you children that.

You know you're little and and you're like you're like

in this stage right now, and you're just uh, it's beautiful,

and you're just little children. You're like the little children

that Jesus took in his arms and blessed them, and

that's wonderful. The beauty of innocency and you as children

is really wonderful. I just want to tell you children,

if you keep growing and mature and get as you

get older, we believe the time will come in your

life when when you will sense that you know in

a real way God loves you, and God will speak

to you, and God will want you to open your

heart to him, open your heart to Jesus and let

him come into your heart. And then it's like, you know,

you go into this stage and just wants you children

to think about how important it is for you to

obey mom and daddy. And when you have things in

your heart that are questions and you're wondering about things,

that you talk with your mom and daddy about them

because God wants you to be like you know, become

like a butterfly. And children, you don't understand all that

right now, but it's like when you become a new

person and you are born again of the spirit of

God and Jesus comes into your heart and in the

right time and way, God will speak to you, and

then you open your heart and let Jesus come in.

And so tonight We're very thankful for the way that

God created the butterfly. So this is just a little

mount I have. But after services, I don't know if

you'd like to or not, but all your children are

welcome to come up and look at our little butterfly

we have. If you'd like to it all, you would

be welcome to do that. And now, as we think

of going into the messages evening, those are things that

relate to this message because we think of transformation and regeneration.

We think of change that happens in a person's heart

when they yield to the Lord, and what God wants

for us. And so before turning to the scripture that

we want to look at for the message to evening,

I'd like to just turn to scripture and read it.

I'll be reading from the Book of Ezekio. Just sit

and listen to these words. As we think of the

message last night, we think of the good Shepherd, the

Chief Shepherd, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. Listen

to these words coming from the Lord. And it is true,

as was just said in the devotional, our decisions and

choices effect what is going to happen as the Lord

speaks these words and as he seeks us, it's our

choice whether we will open our heart to him or

we will reject God's voice. But these words are so

meaningful tonight, I just invite you to just listen to

these words, like it's the first time you ever heard it,

God saying, behold, I even I will both search my

sheep and seek them out. And I think again tonight

of that one little lonely sheep. It looked like in

that pasture last night when we were on the way

to church. And as God in heaven looks down and

he knows all of our hearts, and like we sang tonight,

was so meaningful, all for a heart to praise my God,

heart in tune with God. But God knows if there's

one of us here tonight that is like that sheep

that's away from the fold. And you know, I just

while I was sitting here, I turned to Luke fifteen

and I read those amazing words that in heaven there

is more rejoicing over one that repenteth than over ninety

and nine that it says need no repentance, or at

least think they need no repentance. And then we are

listening to these words in Ezekiel God saying, I will

both search my sheep and seek them out. And he

goes on and says, as a shepherd seeketh out his

flock in the day that he is among his sheep

that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep

and will deliver them out of all places where they

have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. That's

the cloudy and dark day of your life caused you

to wander away from the fold and away from God.

Is it tonight like a certain area of our life

that we have closed doors to the Lord? Are there

any Are there any doors on our heart that are

closed tonight? It's a very important question. The Lord is

seeking us out, and maybe the cloudy dark days have

have just given us reason to wonder away from the fold.

And he goes on and says, I will feed my flock,

I will cause them to lie down. I will seek

that which was lost and bring again that which has

driven away, driven away. You know, in church life, it's

possible that something has happened that has been so hard

and difficult, maybe something from a well meaning brother or

sister that has caused you to become hardened and called

toward God and toward the brotherhood. Driven away, I will

bring again that which was driven away, and will bind

up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which

was sick. May the Lord do that among us this evening.

So just share that as a background for us to

remember those words tonight that the Lord has spoken, as

we turn our bibles to Luke twenty four. In Luke

twenty four, reading some of the words that are given

as adjectives or words of the even the emotion things

going on in the heart and the life of the disciples.

In Look twenty four, we find the words sad. Yes,

the disciples were sad. They were astonished, they were terrified,

they were affrighted, they were troubled. Look twenty four. The

setting is a setting where Jesus, Jesus came to them. Then,

and what did Jesus say? He said, behold my hands

and my feet in verse thirty nine. And we'd like

to give the message that title this evening, and just

the title would be behold his hands and his feet.

As Jesus spoke those words. In this same chapter, we

find then words like peace. We find the word joy,

we find the word great joy. And in the last

verse of this chapter, we find that they were praising

and blessing God. What a change was brought about by

the disciples being just just asked to behold Jesus' hands

and his feet and just taking a moment and considering that.

And so with this, I'd like to notice a few

verses in Isaiah forty nine this evening. And I wouldn't

say that we know, well, maybe you would, maybe it

would be interesting to hear what your explanation is of

these verses. But I think we can make application as

we think of Jesus. This was after the resurrection, after

he was glorified, that he called that his disciples to

behold his hands in his feet, and he even called

Thomas to put his hand in the opening the wound

of his hands and his side. Isaiah forty nine, verse thirteen,

and following it says, sing o heavens, and be joyful,

o Earth, and break forth into singing old mountains, for

the Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy

upon his afflicted. But Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me,

and my Lord hath forgotten me. Do you ever feel

that way? Have you ever felt like the Lord has

forgotten you and who you are. Remember, he knows how

many hair on your head. Remember even these little prints

on your thumb are different than anyone else in the world.

And while there's seven billion people in this world at

least and plus more, he has not forgotten you. And true,

there's been times when we have maybe been tempted to

think the Lord has forsaken us, or he's forgotten us.

God goes on to say, can a woman forget sucking child,

that she should not have compassion on the son of

her womb? Yay, they may forget, Yet will I not

forget THEE? And he goes on to say, behold, we

have this word. Behold again here in the Old Testament,

I have graven THEE upon the palms of my hands.

I wonder if that was an Old Testament scripture pointing

forward to the time when when Jesus' hands would carry

the scars in the marks of something that was done

in order to bring redemption for every one of us.

Here tonight would invite you to just stop and consider

where we would be if it were not for the

goodness of God expressed to us in the person of

Jesus Christ. If Jesus would have in Gethsemane would have

said in his prayer, it's just too too heavy, I

can't drink from this cop and he would have rejected

God's call in his life. Where we be tonight and

we praise the Lord that we can take a moment

to behold his hands and his feet and think about

what that means for us. I invite you to turn

to Matthew twenty seven tonight, and we want to notice

a few things there, along with five miracles that God

performed in an amazing way, and things that took place

the day Jesus spread his arms and died on the

cross for you, for me, we go to Matthew twenty seven,

and we begin reading at verse thirty eight as we

think of the price that was paid for our redemption

and what it meant and what it means to us

to behold the hands and the feet of Jesus. The

Bible here tells us there were two thieves crucified with Jesus.

With him, thieves were crucified with him. Do we know?

Do we think about? Can we consider the fact, you know,

when someone falsely accuses us, how does that make you feel?

What do you do about it when someone falsely accuses

you and they accuse you of something that you really

you never did, you know, how does it feel in

our hearts and tonight? Then we don't spend a lot

of time thinking of that, but we think about the

fact that Jesus was crucified between two thieves. He was

numbered with transgressors. It tells us in verse thirty nine,

and day that passed by, they reviled him, wagging their heads,

just shaking their heads. You know, this is a man

that said he could destroy the temple and build it

in three days. This is a man that claimed he

was the son of God, and let God come down

now and save him, if he will have him. We

want to read that in a few verses following here,

verse forty says and saying that destroy us the temple

and build us it in three days. Save thyself, if

thou be the son of God, come down from the cross.

Like likewise, Also the chief priest, you know, the spiritual people,

the religious people of the day, they mocked him. How

could the chief priests that were called to serve humanity

and give themselves for the good of the people, how

could they mock Jesus hanging on the cross, they mocked him,

with the scribes and the elders, all the people that

were supposed to be looked up in that day as

men and women of God were mocking the son of God, Jesus.

And then they said things like this, you know he

saved others himself, he cannot save if he be the

king of Israel. Let him now come down from the

cross and we will believe him. And then verse forty

three seems like would have been the most painful thing

of all when they said he trusted in God him,

deliver him now if he will have him. For he said,

I am the son of God. Tonight I would just

invite you to take a fresh new look that the

depths that Jesus went to, and how he was ridiculed

and mocked and forsaken and beaten, and he had just

been scourged by the Roman soldiers, and here he was

hanging on a cross, bleeding and wounded, nails through his

hands and his feet, and the religious leaders of the

day are mocking him and saying, you know, if God

would have him, let him come down and deliver him.

And I want to remind you that he did that

for you, He did that for me. And it is

amazing that while hanging there he did not become resentful

and bitter and angry. He did not call for twelve

legions of angels to come into strike all these people

dead and slap him down on the ground. What came

from Jesus' laps and from his heart. It's so amazing

to think that while he was hanging there, that Jesus

spoke those gracious words, and it was a prayer to

his Father in heaven. And he says, Father hid them,

for they know not what they do. How many times

do you think you know? In the Book of Hebrews

it says he ever liveth to make intercession for us.

How many times has he in pleading for you and

me before the Father asked the Father to forgive me

because I don't know what I'm doing. It is amazing,

it's marvelous. These are all things we see as we

behold his hands and his feet. The thieves also, which

were crucified with him, they cast those same things in

his teeth. And tonight we praise God that there was

a conversion on the cross. The one thief was converted

and saw Jesus is a messiah, and in his eleventh

there was a change of heart, and that can be

you tonight. You know, all of us, we can't claim

to be any better than those thieves that were hanging

on either side. God's word makes it plain. All of

us have sinned and comes short of the glory of God.

And we may have been a good boy all of

our life, and we never ran away from home, we

never slapped Daddy in the face. We basically obeyed Daddy

and grew up that way. But there's something you've done,

if you're an adult here tonight, or reach the age

of accountability, there's something you've done is wrong and sinful,

and it cannot stand before the holiness of God. And

it takes it takes, it takes redemption. It takes the

blood of Jesus to cleanse us and to cover our sins,

and the Lord to come into our hearts to make

that we can be free and justified before the holiness

of God. That brother Joel read to us about tonight,

there's only there's only one thing. There's there's only that

one thing that can can satisfy God in our behalf,

and it is the blood of Jesus that was shed

as of a lamb, without blemishing, without spot to make

an atonement or the sins of Donnie Schwartz and Trooper

and all the rest of you here tonight there was

a conversion on the cross, and the thief that was converted,

that that yielded, that saw Jesus is a messiah, that

took a moment to like behold his hands and his

feet was changed, and Jesus said some of the most

meaningful words to him a person could ever hear. You

know today thou shalt be with me in paradise. We

noticed in the following verses there was darkness over the

whole world from the sixth hour into the ninth hour.

Jesus cried in verse fifty, and he yielded up the ghost,

and he died. And then we noticed some things that

God Almighty, the Father in heaven, five miracles that took

place just following jesus death. It seems like, as it

is mentioned here verse fifty one, it says, behold, the

veil of the temple was rent in twained from the

top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and

the rocks rent, and the graves were open in many

bodies of the saints which slept the rose and came

out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into

the Holy city and appeared unto many five miracles, five

things here. Then there were other miracles that happened that day.

But we stop a moment and we consider these five miracles.

But there's one that stands out in our mind tonight,

which one of these five miracles we just read are

the most meaningful to you tonight? You know, we could

open it up for you to share what is the

most meaningful, and we would just share. At least, we

want to think about the fact that the veil in

the temple was rent in the midst as the Bible

tells us, from the top to the bottom. It was

not just one little corner of that veil that was opened.

It was not just a little part on the side.

It was the middle of that big, heavy veil. I

won't go into the detail of how heavy that veil

was tonight, not a lot of detail, but it was

it is. Some have said it was several inches thick

of very heavy veil, and a veil that meant God

is not to be just accessed openly and freely by

anybody anytime. The veil was. I'm sure all of you

as adults know, but for you as children here tonight,

there was a veil in the temple and in the

tabernacle of the Old Testament times that uprighted the place

where people were from from the Holy of Holies, and

in the Holy of Holies, there was only there was

like once a year that one man could go into

that Holy of Holies. He'd be like, you know, if

we had this this room, and and and there would

be a big veil of big curtain here, and no

one ever went into that room. No one would go

into that room except once a year. There was one man,

a priest that could and he had to have blood.

He'd take blood, and like would think of those lambs

that are out in those fields tonight, and the people

would bring those lambs and they were slaying, and the

blood was taken from those lambs. And the priest would

go behind that curtain only once a year, and with blood.

He had to take blood in there as he went

into the Holy of Holies. When Jesus died, when his

hands and his feet were opened, there was something else

that was opened that had such meaning for us tonight

that was Jesus when he died, the veil in the

temple was rent from top to bottom. This is a

picture someone has put together of a little bit of

how what we think about we think of the high priest.

And it was at the time. It was at the

time when the Old Testament priests were making sacrifices and offerings,

when Jesus, the Lamb of God died at Calvary, and

the veil of the temple was rent. And what does

that mean to you tonight, that the veil in the

temple was rent? We turn our bibles to Hebrews, the

Book of Hebrews, for an answer. We go to Hebrews

chapter ten, and we notice from verse nineteen and following

we notice some things that are very meaningful to us

here this evening Hebrews, chapter ten, verse nineteen. As we

think of the veil being rent. Here these words are

having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by

the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way,

which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that

is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest

over the House of God. And so verse twenty We

believe it is, you know, his flesh. When his flesh

was opened, his hands and his feet were opened, the

veil and the temple was opened. God was satisfied with

the sacrifice of his son's life and the blood that

was shed, as being an atonement for our sins. It

goes on to say, in verse twenty two, let us

draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,

having our hearts sprinkled from medievil conscience, and our bodies

washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession

of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.

And let us consider one another to provoke and to

love and to good works. This evening we cannot express

enough how meaningful it is that the veil in the

temple was rent. Now this track has the word guilt

on it, and it has a picture of a heart

and the words how can I cope with it? And

tonight you know, you know what guilt feels like. It

feels like just a lot like the picture that riden

staff is put together on this little track. That's a

lot what it feels like in our hearts. Guilt, sin,

What do we do with sin? And guilt in our

hearts and in our lives. What are we going to

do with it? Invite you to turn back to Luke

twenty four, back to that scripture again that we were

in a little early and we think of something else

there that Jesus said in verse forty six. It says

he said, unto them, thus it is written, and thus

it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the

dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of

sins should be preached in his name, Ao among all

nations beginning at Jerusalem to night. I'm so thankful that

you know that Jesus the reason it behooved him to

suffer and die, so that repentance and remission of sins

would be preached in his name. And who am I

to tell you this? Who am I to tell you

tonight that when you repent of your sins, you know

in the Book of Acts it has some beautiful words

that are so meaningful. It says repentance toward God and

faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe it's important

for us tonight to know that you know we can

reach the age of accountability, and know that we have sinned,

and we could be so sorry about it, and we

could cry every hour of our life for the rest

of our life and still be just as lost and

sinful and guilty as ever. But it is when after

as we repent of our sins, and by faith we

see Jesus, we behold his hands and his feet, the

opening that was made in the blood that he shed

for us, and for a covering and atonement for our sins,

that we look and we behold. It is amazing that

in the Old Testament that God did something that was

pointing forward to when Jesus would come. In the Old Testament,

the children of Israel were sinful, wicked, just like we are.

They complained and murmured, it went on. It was so

bad that God sence fiery serpents, and it bit the people.

Snakes bit the people, and they were dying. It's a

picture of how we die, as being bit with the

venom of sin, as children of Adam, and all of

us are children of Adam and Eve, and we all

have been bit with that sinful nature within us. And

there's something that needs to happen. God called Moses to

make a brazen serpent and hang it on a pole,

and then he invited the people to look up to

that brazen serpent. All they had to do was look

up at that brazen serpent, and you know, by faith,

to look up at it, and they were healed. And

that was pointing forward. We believed to the time when

Jesus would also hang on the cross, and we who

have been bit with the venom of sin, we can

by faith also repent of our sins and look up

to the lamb of God and we can be healed

of our sin. And that's the most wonderful message we

mankind has ever heard. And Jesus suffered and died so

that we could preach repentance and remission of sins. David,

David sin grossly and horribly. Could David, the man of

God he was, How could he sin Eiah to the

battlefield the hit tight, you know, and and tell joe

Ab to put him in the hottest pace of the

battle so that he would be killed to cover and

hide his sin. David the king of Israel, how could

he try to get Euriah drunk so he'd go to

his wife to cover his sin. It's alarming, and yet

we know that within every one of us lies the

ability the possibility of doing the same. How is it

that when David from his heart were saying things like

what we read in Psalm fifty one, and he said,

have mercy upon me, o God, according to the multitude

of our tender mercies, Oh God, blood out my transgressions

and cleanse me with hissop. Have you ever prayed that

prayer and mend it from your heart? I trust most

of you have. It is so amazing tonight last night

we thought of the spoke of the Majesty and the

ministry of Jesus. It is just amazing that God in

Heaven has mercy on those that truly repent. You know,

a broken and a contrite heart, God will not despise.

Isn't that so meaningful? It's so so meaningful, And you

know that is the kind of attitude of heart we

should always have, like to have a broken heart before

the Lord. We don't reach a point where we can

walk around and think we're doing pretty good now, you know,

because there are always those things we deal with. Do

you ever have an evil thought, a wicked thought, or

a cinvil thought, or the thought of foolishness? Is sin?

We need the grace of God, and that's why we

need to walk in repentance before the Lord and brokenness continually.

We never reach a point where we can feel, you know,

we really have it together. We're kind of proud of

where we are and know who we are and how

we can do. We do the right things, we say

the right things, we even wear the right clothes. We

have to humbly walk with God, and we daily need

his grace, the covering of the blood of Jesus on

our lives. Daily we need to behold his hands and

his feet. There we find forgiveness of sin and mercy.

There we find what it takes to move from being

like this chrysalis, looking like an old, dried up piece

of cocoon, to being a butterfly that is free, that

is forgiven, that is happy, that is rejoicing because we

have beheld his hands and his feet, and we can

say he died for me, his blood was shed in

my behalf. And tonight I can go to bed with

a clear and free conscience, by the grace of God,

I do not have to go to bed with a

conscience that feels like this picture, you know, with all

those thorny pieces and jagged edges on it. The beauty all,

the beauty of a clear and free conscience. One of

the most powerful verses, it seems to me, in the

whole New Testament, is a verse that says something like this,

how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through

the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, cleanse

your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God.

There we have God, the Father, God, the Son God,

the Holy Spirit, and the Blood of Jesus, all in

one verse. And we just humbly bow, and we praise

and thank God. We marvel that the blood of Jesus

was shed as an atonement for our sins. And it

just motivates us. It captivates us. It is our life.

A little over one hundred years ago, there was a

big ocean vessel, a big ocean liner that was sailing

in the water across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to America.

It was considered by some people as being an unsinkable ship.

It is said that when they started the journey, the

people on that ship they were in three categories. Before

the journey ended, there were two categories of people. Captain

Smith wanted to make a record for speed going across

the Atlantic. Warnings were given, there's icy places in the ocean,

and the water is cold, and there's icebergs. Warnings were given.

Warnings were not heated. The ears were wax gross and

cold and hard. And they kept sailing tonight. I want

to think about that big ocean line or the Titanic

as being a type of the world and sin and

where the devil has us when we have not yet

come to Jesus and opened our heart to him. And

so on the ship they kept sailing at a high

rate of speed, and on that Sunday night, close to midnight,

that big mighty ocean liner rammed into an iceberg in

the ocean. It had I think, if I remember correctly,

sixteen water type compartments it was built with and with

I didn't know until I think today they were like

remote control gates and things on those compartments, if I

have read correctly, and you know, it just was so

many things that just seemed like everything, you know, they

could just control it. It was fine, and of course

there was partying and and there was a lot of

people were having a good time. Thankfully. There were also

a lot of amazingly godly Christians on that boat, and

some that were so godly and so in tune with

God that when they knew they were going to go

down into those icy waters, they were willing to take

their life, check it off, and give it to someone

that was not ready to meet God. And that is

so challenging tonight to think about that. But we're thinking

about how we're thinking tonight of the woman. As I

remember reading about one woman, they were trying to give

everybody a warning this ship is going down. You know,

there was I think there was five of them, sixteen

compartments that were ripped open, and the engineer or someone thought,

you know, if it had only been four of them,

we could we could we could float that with five

of them being ripped open, this ship is going to sink.

And tonight we're thankful for everyone on that ship that

turned to the Lord in that hour, in that moment,

and they sought his face in repentance and crying out

to the Lord. I read the story of the account

of one woman. They went down to her room and

knocked on her door and say the ship is sinking,

We're going to sink, and and she just you know,

didn't believe it the way I read it, she slammed

the door shut and locked it. She didn't heed the warning. Thankfully,

there were, if I am correct, seven hundred and five

people that were able to get off of that big,

mighty Titanic that looked like, you know, that's where I

want to be, and looked like a big ocean liner

we'd be safe on. They got out of that into

a lifeboat. And tonight that life boat is Jesus. That

life boat is the one that gave his hands at

his feet to the people that drove nails through them

so that we could get off of the Titanic into

the lifeboat tonight and be saved and redeemed by the

blood that He shed in our behalf. And tonight we

just we just are so thankful, we bless the Lord

that there is a lifeboat. Now. Think about think about

the people out on that Titanic and how desperately they

would have wanted to get in a lifeboat. There was

not enough room for everyone on those life boats. Tonight,

we're thankful that Jesus has said, whosoever will let him come,

and he even stood and cried out one day and

made sure that everyone knows that they can come. Remember

that scripture in Luke four eighteen and following last night

we read you know this day is a scripture fulfilled

in your ears. Tonight the life boat is Jesus, and

you can get off of the Titanic, off of away

from your life of sin and selfishness, and you can

open your heart and yield it to the lordship of

Jesus Christ. Allow him to cover your sins with his

blood as you repent. Jesus wanted repentance and remission of

sins to be preached in his name, and that's what

we want to endeavor to do tonight. To make sure

you know, you know there was one time when Jesus

said something like this, that you may know that the

son of Man or son of God, hath power on

earth to forgive sins. If we as adults here tonight

go to bed and we lay whenever, we lay our

head on our pillow, and we can say before the

Lord we're ready to die and meet the Lord. We

can say we have a clear conscience tonight. Do you

know it comes only as a result of the blood

of Jesus Christ. You know, I think it was was

it last night? Here sometimes, since we're here, we're talking

about people with other faiths and beliefs and religions. They

can go buy a code of ethics, but no one

outside of Jesus Christ can tell of something what happens

in our hearts when we open our life to the Lord.

There's a conversion that scripture. In John one, it talks

about being born not of flesh, but born of God.

Our prayer would be that none of us tonight would

hold out on God, none of us would hold out

and say not now, but that every one of us

would yield to whatever God is saying to us tonight.

Two songs. One is He is the fountain for a

thirsty soul. He is the healer and so much more.

When my heart is broken by this world's demands, the

pieces are mended through one scarred hand. It's a hand

that holds the whole world in place. It's the hand

that was scarred just to give me grace. And to

think a hand that holds the stars is small enough

to mend one broken heart. And when I can't stand,

I have to lean. And when I can't see, I

must believe. The great physicians touch is a bomb that

can men broken hearts with one scarred hand, and I

want to share with you yet tonight a song that

was instrumental in me kneeling down behind Daddy's hayborn at

about four o'clock in the morning and yielding my heart

to the voice of God. You've been running, running for

a long long time. You've been running, running with no

peace of mind. You regret the day you turned away

and became a fugitive from God. God's been searching, searching

for his long lost child. He's been calling, calling for

a long long while. If you hear his voice, make

him your choice, and don't remain a fugitive from God.

Why don't you turn? Turn? Turn around? Why do you roam?

Can't you see God? The Father waits to welcome you home.

You were never meant to walk the path you've tried.

How long will you run away? A fugitive from God?

We bow our heads and close our eyes. I just

want to tonight, as we wait upon the Lord, invite

you to open your heart to the Lord and something

we all need to do. But would there be anyone

here tonight that would well, we have our eyes closed

and Hou's bed and heads bowed, and I would trust

we would all honor that request. Is there anyone here

tonight would want to raise your hand and give acknowledgment

that you would like to talk with someone about your life,

anything going on in your heart. You would just like

to have someone pray with you, share something with someone.

Is there anyone here like that this evening? You could

just raise your hand. If there is God's blessings to you,

thank you? Anyone else, Brother Leland, would you come forward? Please?

Thank you? The hands can go down. I appreciate you

just coming up here with me. And one more thing

now yet, just want to open it up for anyone

that would just have something on your heart you'd like

to share with everyone here tonight, anything that there might

not be anyone, but if there's something on your heart

you'd like to just share by way of confession or expression.

Why here's your opportunity. Would there be anyone Odd's blessings

to you? Thank you for your prayers, and we look

forward to seeing you again tomorrow evening, Lord willing, we

will stand together for closing prayer. Father in heaven, we

praise you, We thank you for your goodness, your grace. Father. Tonight,

we want to pause and behold, Lord Jesus, your hands

and your feet, and we marvel that we would be

graven on the palms of your hands. We want to

worship and thank and praise you for being willing to

take the ridicule, the mockery, the beating, the scourgeon, so

that us, as adults here tonight that have something beautiful

and meaningful to share with our children when they each

reach the age of accountability before you, and just to

share with one another. Thank you for everyone here tonight.

We pray Lord, for everyone here this evening that loves

you in sincerity and in truth. Would you cause your

face to shine upon us and give us peace. We

bless you in Jesus' name, with thanksgiving. Amen.