Authority (Times of Refreshing Radio) — Peter Brandon

Hello friends, we give you a very warm and friendly Christian greeting to our program today. We've prepared another informative and challenging half hour of times of refreshing, brought to you under the auspices of the voice of Melody Victoria.

God's Commands and Invitations

Scripture is full of commands and invitations, and the two should not be confused. God gives commands to us individually and universally, and he also gives invitations individually and universally. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Global Mission of the Gospel

Look unto me, and be ye saved. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life. Yes, as Christians it is our business to see that the invitation to salvation is extended as far as mankind dwells on the earth.

We are to go into the highways and the hedges, and compel men and women to come in. It began in Jerusalem, the city of redemption, and from Jerusalem it spread to Judea, to Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.

As long as there are corners of the earth where the gospel is not preached, or where ears have not heard, it is our business to go with the gospel invitation. Perhaps you have a burden for unsaved loved ones.

God's Desire for Repentance and Salvation

Peter reminds us that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. How terrible it is for Christians to be cold of heart, without a burden or a care for the lost.

The scriptures tell us that whosoever comes to Jesus Christ will not be cast out, but may take the water of life freely. One of the many invitations to salvation in God's word is found in John chapter 5 and verse 24.

Today is the first of a series of five programs where we are going to have a closer look at this particular verse. John chapter 5 and verse 24. We are very privileged to have our special friend and colleague, Peter Brandon, from England, to lead us in these studies, and we encourage you not to miss a word of what God has to say to you through this series of five programs.

O speak on heaven above, fill about my soul, that I may know thy love, thy wondrous love. Hush my heart to hear thy faceless words, speak below. O may my will be lost in a vine, my yielding heart to thee I now resign.

Speak, Lord, I pray. Let the full untide of my glory, like a mighty beast before me, while I worship and adore thy name.

Christ's Humiliation and Exaltation

This personal letter to us, the Bible, offers us this challenge. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Melt my heart with Calvary love. Turn out the dross with fire from above. Speak, Lord, I pray. Speak from Calvary, I am for thee. Keep that visionary before me while I worship and adore thy name.

For many years from his home base in Bedford in England, Peter Brandon has travelled the British Isles preaching the gospel. He has also made many extensive preaching tours of the English speaking world and his ministry of God's word is in much demand and has been greatly blessed of God.

He is certainly no stranger to us in Australia and it's great to have him back with us again and we welcome him to our microphone today.

The Authority of Jesus' Word

The verse that I want to share with you for a number of occasions is found in John's Gospel, chapter 5, verse 24. It's one of the words of the Lord Jesus and it has brought thousands, perhaps millions, into blessing over about 2000 years and these are the words of Christ himself.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. What I want to speak to you today on those opening words, verily, verily, I say unto you, I find all over the world that people really need authority.

People are saying to me, there are so many voices, we just do not know what to believe. In fact, even in Christianity they say, so many denominations, they can't all be right. My dear friends, I believe the secret is this, it's knowing the voice of Jesus Christ.

Hearing the Voice of Jesus Christ

He said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me and that is why I'm turning you right back to the originator of Christianity and he is Jesus Christ. And he says, verily, verily, now of course we don't use that word today.

If you went into a shop and said, verily, verily, they would look at you as though you came from another planet. The word simply means, Amen, Amen. Now of course that may be confusing. We say Amen when we finish a prayer and it simply means, Lord let it be or literally, please answer the prayer.

Now the Lord Jesus put his Amen not at the end but at the beginning. In other words, he was saying, I'm going to make a promise and even before I make it, I'm going to Amen it. Isn't that wonderful? Secondly, the word means truly, truly or literally of a truth of a truth.

Jesus Christ as the Source of Absolute Truth

Now none of us can speak the absolute truth because we do not know what the absolute truth is. Only one person ever said in history, I am the way, the truth and the life and that was the Lord Jesus. He is the source of all truth.

He is the communication of all truth and when he speaks, it is the absolute truth and this word comes to us in power. Truly, truly of a truth, of a truth. And lastly, it means listen, listen. In my own family, there were eight of us, five boys, three girls and when we were going fishing, mother would call us and she used to have rheumatism in the small finger of her right hand and she would put that rheumatically old finger under our noses.

I can see her now and she would say, now listen, listen. And when mother said, listen, we had to listen. Now what the Lord Jesus was saying was this, listen, listen. Don't miss this, it's absolutely vital.

So you can see now the brilliance of that little old English word verily. I say unto you, notice the person who speaks, I say, great men have spoken. I was only thinking the other day of the words of Alexander the Great.

I was only thinking of some of the words of those great Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. I was also thinking of some of the remarkable words of Caesar, especially Julius Caesar. And then my mind rushed over the years and I thought of the words of Winston Churchill to the people during the war.

But most of those words, dear friends, have been forgotten. I am quite sure of this, only a few of us could quote from Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Plato and the Caesars and Winston Churchill. But this is remarkable.

The words of Jesus Christ are more powerful today than when he first uttered them. There are thousands and millions listening to Christ and therefore there's tremendous authority in this. I say, these are not the words of the church, they're not even the words of a great preacher or a great minister or a great priest.

They're the words of Christ himself. And after all, our date system is not based upon Alexander the Great or Caesar. Our date system is based on Jesus Christ. And that's why we talk about B .C. and A .D.

How God Speaks Through Preaching and Scripture

Notice the way he speaks. I say unto you, God speaks to us in two ways. He speaks to us through his word and he speaks to us through preaching. The Apostle Paul says, How shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach except they be sent? Therefore when God is going to speak to us, he speaks to us through the preaching of the word. And to me, it's a very humbling experience to know that whilst I'm speaking to you, I'm conveying to you the very thoughts of God and that's why I want to say as carefully as I can, Thus saith the Lord.

I know that's old English, but it has authority and it simply means that this is the Lord speaking. Secondly, he speaks to us through his word. If I want to correspond with my dear wife who's in England, I can do so by phoning, I can do so by writing a letter.

And the most reliable form of communication is that which comes to us through a letter. You see, it's always there and God speaks to us through the word of God. That is why the scripture says, All scripture is given by inspiration because this book, the Bible, if it's not inspired by God, is just an ordinary book.

But you see, the scripture makes it quite clear, it's a God-breathed book and that is why we can rely upon the scripture. Now, to whom does he speak? Truly, truly, or verily, verily, I say unto you. I love that.

Christ's Personal Call to Individuals

Sometimes the you can refer to a crowd like the five thousand. Sometimes the you can refer to a group of people like the twelve disciples. But sometimes the you refers to an individual. You know, if you follow carefully the ministry of the Lord Jesus, you will find that he spoke to individuals over and over again.

Let me give you some occasions. He walked forty long miles through a hot burning wilderness to speak to a Samaritan woman that was a harlot. He went nineteen miles down to Jericho to speak to a despised tax gatherer.

When he was actually doing his dying on the cross, dying for our sins, he took the trouble to say to a malefactor, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And when he went back to heaven, he saw a son of Africa, an Ethiopian, who was seeking for the Lord for all he was worth.

And God took one man all the way from Samaria, put him right down in a burning desert in order to speak to that man. Now, dear friends, this to me is exceedingly wonderful. There may be one of you listening to me now in your room.

I don't know where you are, but perhaps God has brought me all the way to Australia just to speak to you. To you. God loves you. Christ died for you. He wants to enter your life. And may you respond to him today.

Listen to that word. Truly, truly, I say unto you. Shall we pray? Lord, we do pray that thou wilt make this word real to someone that may be now listening. Help them to understand that you love them. Christ died for them.

Help them to realize that even in a quiet room, the Lord is there and they can receive him in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Sin, Substitution, and Everlasting Life

The Bible says we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. My friend, we cannot escape it. It is personal. It is individual. We all have sinned and come short of God's glory. Two thousand years ago, God took every sin that you have ever committed or ever will commit and he laid those sins on Jesus at Calvary.

Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 6 says, The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. While Jesus was bearing our sins in his own body, God punished him in our place to pay the debt that we owe. So that when we die, we will not have to pay it.

That is the simple gospel story. If we recognize that we are sinners and believe that Jesus Christ did bear our sin and then trust him completely for salvation, then the Bible promises everlasting life.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. John chapter 3 and verse 36. My dear friend, trust Jesus Christ today as your Saviour. Receive him into your heart and life today. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believe on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life.

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather have Jesus than the land. I'd rather have Jesus than the land. As our program draws to a close,.

We remind you again that a copy of today's program is available to you on cassette. A copy is yours free and post-free if you would so desire. When writing, be sure to mention the number of today's program, number 854, cassette number 854.

Our mailing address is Times of Refreshing, Post Office Box 66, Lillydale 3140. Times of Refreshing, Post Office Box 66, Lillydale 3140. And the cassette number again is 854. Times of Refreshing is a radio missionary outreach of the Christian Brethren Assemblies of Victoria and is made possible by God's provision through His people.

We encourage you all to be tuned next week when Peter Brandon continues his series of studies from John chapter 5 and verse 24. Until then, this is Ralph Taylor on behalf of Peter and all your friends here at the Voice of Melody saying goodbye, God bless you, and remember, keep looking up.