The Evidence of the Resurrection — Peter Brandon

The Resurrection as the Foundation of Christian Faith

The subject tonight is thus, the evidence of the resurrection and nagging doubts, trust that this might be a blessing to all. Now we're going to turn immediately to 1 Corinthians 15 and we shall read from verse 1.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, after that he was seen of above five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, and then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believe. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen?

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, we have found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. Yea, yet in your sins, then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ of his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. When he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Now God will bless to us the reading of that very logical portion of God's word. I am sure that there are many Australians who are very similar to Britain.

And when they first face up to Christianity, what comes to them is this, is it true? Can you really believe in the virgin birth? Can you really accept that you can put deity within the confines of a little body?

Can you really believe that one man in time could die for the sins of the whole world? Past, present and future. And therefore when people begin to seek for God, they face up to these great problems. One lady speaking for many others said this, don't you think that Christianity is a fabricated form of religious Father Christmas?

Now some of you might think that's an exaggeration. But if you were brought up like I was brought up, perhaps that wouldn't be a fabrication. My mother was not saved till she was 42. And my father was a pantheist until he was 76.

And therefore in my little family I didn't have a dad that was breast and porn in religion. And therefore I heard all the problems and all the difficulties and I remember hearing my mother and father having a friendly argument about religion and intellectually my father powered above my mother.

So you can see that when we really come up against these things then of course we have some problems. Now what I'm going to do tonight is to look at the claims of Christ, look at the reactions, look at the issues at stake and then give you the king pin proof of Christianity.

And I think if you're honest and I believe you are, most of you will agree that there is a tremendous amount of evidence in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now first of all the claims of Christ. He claimed to be the son of man, he claimed to be the son of God.

Now I believe it's true to say that no intelligent man in history has ever claimed to be a perfect man and at the same time to be co-equal with God. There were many people that said that they were a God.

But I do not believe that there has been in history a person of intelligence and authority that has actually claimed to be a perfect man, the son of man and at the same time perfect God all harmonised in one body.

The Claims of Christ and the Reactions to His Identity

Now what were the reactions to these claims in the days of our Lord? There were some people that listened to the Lord Jesus and immediately they listened to him, they said immediately he is man. They said the man is subject to insanity.

Now I believe immediately we can eradicate that idea. The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest piece of balanced oration that we have in literature. And it would be impossible for a man, subject even to a neurosis, that could give such a balanced piece of oration as the Sermon on the Mount.

So we can rule out immediately the idea of insanity. Secondly there were those that listened to the Lord Jesus and they said no he is not suffering from insanity, he is a very penetrating thinker. But he is a con man.

This man is deceitful. This man is a deceiver. And they believed that so much that they put Jesus Christ on the cross because he claimed to be the son of God and when they crucified him they threw this penetrating challenge right into his teeth.

If you are the son of God come down from the cross and we will believe you. Now according to history and according to the Bible, and that's reliable history, he didn't come down from the cross but he died.

Then thirdly there was a small group of people in the main uneducated and they swore their allegiance to Christ and they claimed him to be Christ the son of the living God and they believed it with all their heart.

Now if I stop there I would have to say immediately as a kind of an honest preacher that the weight of evidence falls heavily on behalf of the Sadducees and the Pharisees that crucified Christ. But I am not going to stop there.

You see now the issues at stake are vast. If Jesus Christ be dead and he is not alive, the Lord Jesus was one of the greatest liars that ever lived. Secondly salvation is a total farce. Thirdly the apostles were downright deceivers.

Fourthly the Bible is a fable and then lastly eternity is an absolute myth. On the other hand if something supernatural like the resurrection has taken place then Christianity is absolutely revolutionary.

It certainly can't be boring. What? When God is made flesh, dies upon a cross and is raised from the dead and is seated on the throne of God waiting to come as the coming king. Ladies and gentlemen if that's true it's revolutionary.

The world has never heard anything like it before. But if it's not true then I say with the apostle Paul that our faith and our doctrine is vain and that used in a modern translation means rubbish. So can you see that we are up against tremendous issues.

The Resurrection as Fact, Faith, and Future

Now may I say this to my brothers and sisters. The moment you believe in the resurrection of Christ you cannot be a half-baked Christian. The moment you believe in the resurrection of Christ it will shatter all your unbelief, it will destroy all your nagging doubts and it will give you a joy that you've never had before.

But if the resurrection is not true then of course we must go to the scriptures and we must quietly fold it up and put it back in our shelves as just a piece of good literature and that's all. So what am I going to do now?

First of all I'm going to speak on the subject of the resurrection as a fact. Then I'm going to speak on the subject of the resurrection as our faith. Then I'm going to speak on the subject of the resurrection concerning the future.

So if you want it very simple it's this. The resurrection fact, the resurrection faith and the resurrection future. First of all the resurrection fact. Now those of you who have studied logic carefully will know this that when you're going to put before a congregation or an audience any piece of logic you must do it in four ways.

Number one, you must give them if it's available real textual evidence. Secondly, you must prove to the audience that you have historical evidence and then you must look over the fence and be honest and give critical evidence and then you must show to your audience or congregation that what you are advocating really works and you must give experimental evidence.

Now that's what I want to do for a few minutes. You see the apostle Peter said this, we have not followed cunningly defied fables. And may I say this to young people, you can stand in any campus, in any school and you can lift your head up and you can say without a tinge of embarrassment I'm following the absolute truth because there's evidence in the resurrection.

Textual Evidence in Prophecy and Scripture

Now what about this textual evidence. Now Paul says this, Christ died for our sins according to our feelings. No. Christ died for our sins according to our visions and dreams. No. Christ died for our sins according to some kind of man made prophecy.

No. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again according to the scriptures. There's the evidence. Now what's the evidence? Ninety nine prophecies were fulfilled when Jesus Christ died on the cross.

Over sixteen prophecies were fulfilled when the Lord Jesus was buried and that he rose again from the dead. And those prophecies are to be found all over the Bible. Daniel 12. Psalm 8. In fact there are two Psalms that speak of the resurrection.

Isaiah 53. And we could go on. Zechariah in the last chapters speak conclusively if you read it carefully of the resurrection. And when our Lord Jesus was here just a week before he died on five occasions just a week before he died he spoke of his death, burial and resurrection.

Now I would like to go into the details of this in a much more profound way but my time is limited. But may I say this to you? There is complete textual evidence for the resurrection in scripture. Now what about the historical evidence?

Historical Evidence from the Grave Clothes and the Transformed Disciples

Now first of all I want to give you the evidence of the grave clothes. Now as Christians we cannot say that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus as the son of God is unique in the history of resurrection.

Many of the Greek gods supposedly were resurrected. But when you study the story of the resurrection especially in John's gospel there is something in it that is totally unique. For instance when the disciples got to the grave they found a stone rolled away and they looked in and they looked casually and perhaps they just saw the grave clothes.

Then John went a little further and he looked carefully and then he looked again and then he clicked. In other words he understood. Now why? He saw all the folds of the grave clothes as it were around the body.

He saw the napkin separate from the rest of the body but that was still in its fold. As though the body of the Lord Jesus was there but the Lord Jesus had come through the grave clothes. Now I am going to say this emphatically.

It would be utterly impossible for a simple fisherman like John to have fabricated that story. For that is totally unique and if you watch carefully the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus. He came through the grave clothes without the grave clothes being disturbed.

He came out of the sepulcher without the stone being rolled away. He went through a door without the door being opened and he went through gravity without the power of rocketry. You see he had a resurrected body.

Secondly the disciples when the Lord Jesus died were depressed men. In fact when you read of them carefully it seemed as though the bottom of their world fell to pieces. Everything was shattered. They pinned their faith on a suffering Messiah and not a suffering Messiah.

And therefore when the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead those men were in the dregs of depression. But when they met the risen Lord they were completely transformed so that they almost became hilarious with joy.

Ah but you argue with the preacher and you say hallucination will do that and so it will. I have seen people under an LSP tablet have an hallucination that actually changed their life. So just because they were hilarious with joy it doesn't mean to say that they saw the Lord.

But here is the fact. One million of the first century Christians were butchered by Nero. They were pulled to pieces. They were thrown to lions. They were boiled in oil. They were baked to limes. Some went to the sword and they were cut to pieces.

In fact if I gave you all the details I am sure many of our sisters would be sick. But this is the fact. Whilst they were being boiled and baked and brewed they were praising and worshipping the Lord.

Do you think one million people would go to death like that because of a slim hallucination? They knew that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and they knew because he was raised from the dead that was the key to the afterlife.

And therefore they knew that their death was the gateway to glory because the resurrection proved it. And therefore these people were transformed not by a hallucination but by the tremendous historical fact of the resurrection.

The Empty Tomb and the Public Witness of the Apostles

Now thirdly, when the apostles went all over Jerusalem preaching the resurrection the Sanhedrin could see the very structure of Judaism beginning to collapse. For instance on one day 5000 men believed including many priests.

Just think of that. And they could see something that was 1500 years old crumbling before them. Now if they wanted to disprove Christianity they could have done it overnight. All they had to do was to go to the sepulchre and it was only a few yards from the cross where he was executed, unseal the stones, take out the body of the Lord Jesus, put it on a cart, parade it through the streets of Jerusalem and say, Look ladies and gentlemen there is the dead body of the Christ.

And that would have silenced Christianity once and for all. But you see they didn't do that. Why? They knew that the body was miraculously missing. Now there are lots of pieces of evidence I would like to give but I must rush on now.

And the last piece is this. The progress of the gospel. On one occasion I had the privilege of speaking to a group of young men on this subject of the resurrection and an intellectual young man stood up and he said, Mr. Brandon you can tell a story like that to primitive people and they would believe it.

For instance he said, if you went to Africa and you preached the resurrection of Christ they would accept it. And that's why Christianity has flourished. It went to primitive people. Now forgive me letting my hair down.

How nonsensical can a young intellectual be? Christianity did not go to barbaric people. It went right into the imperial world of Rome. It went right into the centre of Greek culture where you had the greatest philosophers of all, the Stoics and the Epicureans.

And it was right in the gateway of knowledge, right in the hub of intellectualism that Paul preached the resurrection and many believed. And those of you who know or are familiar with Greek philosophy will know this that when they heard the story of the resurrection they didn't swallow it but they would go over to Jerusalem and that's why he says to Corinth that he was seen of 500 at once of whom the greater part remain unto this day.

They are there to answer your problem. So can you see my dear friends there is tremendous evidence in the historical background of the resurrection. Now what about this critical evidence? If you were alive in the first century and someone said to you who is the last person you would ever imagine to be a Christian you would say without hesitation Saul of Tarsus.

Saul of Tarsus and the Conversion of Critics

He was a young man who intellectually and traditionally was bitterly opposed to every trace of Christianity. But he thought that his spiritual leaders were right in crucifying the Lord Jesus. He thought that the apostles were impostors to preach the resurrection of Christ.

And although perhaps a college friend of his became a Christian and died breathing out love and kindness to the very people that were about to martyr him it made no difference to Saul. On the Damascus road he saw a light that was far brighter than the noonday sun.

He heard a voice and within five minutes he was converted. And that critic gave us almost one third of our New Testament. So the New Testament a good part of its doctrine at least was given to us by a man who was once a diametric critic of the Bible or of the New Testament.

Now you say well of course that's one case. Wait a minute. In the time of Wesley and Whitefield when the whole of Britain was being shaken by the gospel so that we were saved from the French Revolution.

There were two outstanding atheists. One was called Lord Lyttelton and the other was called Gilbert West. And they could see the whole face of Britain being changed from almost a pagan society to a Christian society.

And they got together and they realized that they had to do something dramatic. And they both went to university to study. And one said that he would endeavor to destroy the conversion of Saul to show that it was a fabrication of the early Christians.

And the other said that he would destroy the story of the resurrection and he will prove that this was the fabrication of early Christians. After six months research those men met and they were silent.

And you can read in any library Gilbert West's book on the evidence of the resurrection. And I believe it's still at hand. You can read in any library the logic of the Damascus Road. And both those men were converted as critics trying to destroy the conversion of Saul and the seeming evidence of the resurrection.

But then you say well of course that's the 18th century we are now living in the 20th century. One moment. A young man came out of the last war. He had been an officer I think in the army. And this is what he said.

Christianity has been on the go for nearly 2000 years and we've been through two world wars. What is it doing for the world? We need a new philosophy. But he knew that it was impossible to start a new philosophy of living if he didn't destroy the old.

So he read the Bible being a lawyer and he realized that if he could destroy the evidence of the resurrection as it's found in scripture the whole of Christianity would collapse and so it was. So he gave himself six months return.

And you can read his book in any book shop. Who Moved the Stone? By Mr. Morrison. And that's a lovely piece of evidence of the resurrection of Christ. Now can I say this to anyone that has nagging doubts.

Get hold of your Bible. Read carefully with an unbiased mind the four accounts of the resurrection in the four gospels. Then get hold of 1 Corinthians 15 and read it carefully and you will find the more you read the more penetrating the resurrection will become.

And therefore I want to say as clearly as I can there is more evidence of the resurrection of Christ than the battle of Waterloo. And we Christians can say proudly because we love our Lord that we haven't followed parish stories.

We are following a tremendous fact and Jesus Christ is there and he is not the figment of our imagination. Therefore when you go to the cross sometimes I know I must admit it looks like defeat. But when you see that empty tomb and see a risen Christ you see ultimate victory.

I shall never forget hearing one of our masters at school who used to teach us history describing the battle of Waterloo. And when the first news came to Britain it was a tragedy unlike the war that we are now battling in the Gulf.

The news came to Britain like this. Wellington defeated. And the whole of Britain for two days went into bereavement. Wealthy business people committed suicide. On the third day the right signal came and this is how it was read.

Wellington defeated Napoleon and the whole of Britain went into holy joy. Beloved sometimes when you look at the man which side of the cross and you see the Lord Jesus crowned with thorns you begin to say Jesus defeated.

When you see that empty tomb and that occupied throne you say Jesus has defeated sin, death and Satan and he is the victor. And that's why every Christian should be jubilant. Why? Because Christ is risen from the dead.

And oh dear friends because of this tremendous fact we want to say to you again that the Christianity that we are presenting tonight is not monotonous. But it's revolutionary and may I use a word that I don't like but it's quite modern.

It's exciting when you really get that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. But then someone will say and rightly so, alright brother Peter he's risen from the dead, he's there in heaven but why is he there?

The Risen Christ as Intercessor and Savior

What's the purpose of a risen Christ? What's the purpose? You see the apostle sums it all up and this is what he says. He is able to save fully and completely all that come unto God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for us.

Now I'm quite sure of this that every person in this room tonight can see that the world needs a saviour. I'm quite sure of this if you love your own country and I'm sure you do that everyone in this room will agree that Australia needs a saviour and Britain needs a saviour.

But if we were more honest and we looked at ourselves we would say yes and I need a saviour. Can I prove it to you? There's not a man here that's ever lived that's never told a lie. There's not a lady here that's never been irritable.

There's not a person here that's not lusted. If every single one of us including your preacher had their sins exposed on that blank wall where the scripture is you would never come into this building again.

Never. Every single one of us has a lot to cover. A person might be religious, they may try to appear to be moral, some people might be intellectual but we're all plagued with this great kind of spiritual disease of sin.

Now you might go to a dentist and you might sit in his chair and if you were to say to him, I'm sorry sir it's not my teeth but could you take my temper out? What would he say? It's so deep rooted I can't get hold of that one.

You see we can extract teeth, we can remove bones, we can remove cancerous tissue but we can't remove sin. And there's only one person in the universe that can deal with the matter of sin and that's Jesus Christ because he died on the cross for our sins and he bore the judgment in his own body on the tree and now he lives in heaven and the scripture says this, he died unto sin once and now he lives unto God.

And because he's there God has made him the universal saviour and therefore the Lord Jesus has the power and the authority because he lives to save our sins immediately, to save us from guilt immediately and he can do that tonight if we'd let him.

The Holy Spirit and the Power for Transformed Living

Secondly because he lives he has the power and the authority to give us power to live day by day and he is the only one that can give power. You see if he were to remove your sins tonight and to save your soul and then if he were to save you now, you see that great mountain leading up to eternity, I want you to climb it, well you couldn't do it.

But you see the Lord Jesus does a wonderful thing, he not only forgives your sins and saves your soul but he puts within your body the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit gives you the power to live. Paul uses a brilliant illustration and this is what he says, don't be drunk with wine where in excess, why?

A man that's under the influence of drink is under a new power. For instance when I do my pub preaching in Britain on a Friday night I've often seen a man in Scotland and he stands on a little chair and he quotes verbatim Robbie Burns and he does it with tremendous eloquence.

But a man said to me when he's sober he can't quote a line. But when he's under the influence of drink it triggers something off in his subconscious mind and he can quote Robbie Burns. You see there's a new power.

Now says Paul, don't be drunk with wine, don't be under that influence but be filled with the Spirit. Now friends you must forgive my emotion here but when you become a Christian, a real Christian, he not only forgives your sins he puts the power of the Holy Spirit within you and you have a new power to live.

And so you have two divine intercessors. You have the Lord Jesus above you constantly praying for you, able to save you out of every temptation. You have the Holy Spirit within you that will give you the power to live.

You know one thing I love about the Bible it's absolutely factual. When we have a record of the twelve apostles we don't have a record of perfect men. Just before the Lord Jesus died they all let him down and failed him.

Peter let down the Lord with a few nasty swear words. And as far as I can trace there was only one that appeared to be quite faithful and that was John. And yet he never cottoned on to the resurrection.

And so after they had been with the Lord Jesus for three years they all failed. Like we do. Now on the day of Pentecost, and I want you to know this, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And when you read of those apostles in the Acts of the Apostles they are transformed men.

They had a better knowledge of the Lord Jesus in his absence than his presence. They had a greater power to live. They had a greater boldness. They were far better men in every aspect. Now what was the sacred?

Will power? They had been to a theological school? No. Oh help me to say this Lord to you. So vital. They received the mighty power of the Spirit. Now dear friends I must say this tonight. Christianity is not just nodding your head at Jesus.

Christianity is not just singing a few nice hymns. Christianity is not just even reading your Bible and saying a few prayers. Christianity is when the Holy Spirit comes into your body and Christ is formed in you.

And it is Christ reliving his life in you. So that you can actually say as we were saying last night. The old life has gone, been crucified and a new life lives within you. And oh dear hearer tonight I do trust that someone might get a grip of that risen Christ.

You see he is there with all power and he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. In fact he has never lost a case. I have never seen a man or a woman in my 44 years of ministry in the gospel who has been to the Lord Jesus as a poor helpless penitent sinner.

Never seen this. Who was sick and tired of his sins. Who turned to God in repentance so that his life might come under the rule of God. I have never seen that type of man that had been to the Lord Jesus and right from his heart pleaded with the Lord to save him and be the Lord of his life.

That was ever disappointed and said it doesn't work. I tell you what I have seen. I have seen people who made a glib profession and said a little prayer but it came no deeper than their lips. And that was a mechanical profession and God never comes to you when you are like that.

But the moment a person searches for God with all his heart. The moment he comes to the Lord Jesus with his sins. The moment he puts his faith and trust in the Saviour. The moment he meets Jesus Christ Lord and fulfills that lovely scripture.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved when he fulfills those conditions. I have never seen a person disappointed.

And do you know what the scripture says? Whosoever believes on him shall never be disappointed. Now I can almost hear someone saying something like this and with this I'm going to close. Alright it's a fact.

Christ as Savior or Judge

The Lord Jesus has been raised from the dead. I admit that's marvellous. So he's there. Yes he's there. Come again and that's what I want to take up if the Lord leads me on Saturday night. Now we don't believe this because of some dream.

We don't believe this because our parents taught us this. We don't believe it because of some kind of lovely vision. For instance I heard a lady said that she was converted. I said could you give me your credentials.

Oh yes she said. I heard a man preaching and when I heard him preaching I saw a great glow round his head. Oh it was wonderful. And as I saw this great glow he made an appeal and I went out and I felt drawn to the man and I asked God to help me and a great beautiful feeling passed through my body.

Oh dear friends that's not conversion. That's emotionalism. But when a person really gets saved he comes to that risen Lord Jesus and he knows that he's there and he puts his faith and trust in the Lord Jesus to save his soul from hell.

He makes Jesus Christ his sovereign Lord and then the Lord saves him and then you'll see the remarkable change. And that's one of the lovely things about the Christian faith. It works. You know it's good to hear of one or two professing faith in the Lord Jesus in this little mission but I'll tell you what's better.

Come back in three years time and sit round the Lord's table and see them in fellowship praising and worshipping the Lord. That's what I love to see. Nothing thrills a preacher more and the Lord more.

To come back and to see those converts baptised in fellowship and worshipping the Lord with his faithful. Oh may that be the case with many during this mission. But then I could almost hear someone saying but that's alright for you kind of people but it's not for me.

You see I'm not that way inclined. Alright for you or you're doing a great work and we need more of that preaching but you see it's not for me. And quite frankly someone might say Peter we Aussies are not that way inclined.

You see we'd help anybody. Oh yes we would. And we are you know we're not perfect but we're real mates together and fair income mates. Oh yes. But you see we're not that way inclined so really it doesn't matter does it.

Ah wait a moment. Jesus Christ is inescapable. Every eye is going to see him and every knee will bow. Now this is what the scripture says and Paul said this to the Athenians. In righteousness by that man whom hath a day.

Wherefore he hath given the assurance unto all men in that he raised him from the dead. Again in Romans 14 God says this as I live saith the Lord and when you read that statement in scripture stock there are only five expressions like that in scripture.

The greatest fact in the universe is the fact of the I am that is that God always lives. And God says as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. And that means every one of us will meet the Lord Jesus.

Now friends can I share this with you as lovingly as I can. You're going to meet the Lord Jesus as a saviour or a judge. A saviour or a judge. Just imagine being in a service like this and the Lord Jesus in all his risen power holds out his saving hand that's pierced and wants to save you tonight and you say not for me.

Alright for them. And then one day you meet him as a judge at the great white throne. It will all be recorded. Just imagine someone making a glib verbal profession of faith and yet in his heart and heart his living a double life and just imagine that person standing before the great white throne and the Lord says you pretended you were never real.

And your name's not in the book of life. What judgment? Can I go deeper? Just imagine a person depending upon his infant baptism. May I say this friends and I know I feel this deeply especially my own people.

Infant baptism is the greatest form of deception that the devil has ever propagated. Thousands will be in hell because they were deceived by it in my own country. My dear friends you can be baptised in a bath, you can be baptised in a tub, you can be baptised in a baptistry and you can be lost.

Great vital need is to come and receive Christ as your saviour. If not you'll meet him as a judge. And you know I can almost visualise this. I can visualise an Australian standing before the great white throne and there he sees the Lord Jesus in all his kingly judging glory.

And the Lord says to him you were far more concerned with the pleasures of the sea than me. And your name's not in the book. I can see another person standing before him healthy, strong, virile. And the Lord says you were far more concerned with sport than with your own self.