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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/norman-crawford/one-sacrifice-for-sins-forever/
Many thanks for coming to the meeting tonight. We're glad to see each one who is here. I think that the meetings, special meetings, after four weeks have come to a close tonight. And I personally, and I know I have the backing of everyone here, want to thank Bill Seale.
He's been away from home these four weeks. I think I know what it is to be away from home. And he has worked so hard and preached so well and we appreciate it so much. We need to tell you that Donna Slack in Venezuela is to have cancer surgery tomorrow.
I would take it it's in the hospital in Valencia. And we need to pray especially that she will have a recovery in the Lord's will. Most of you perhaps have heard this, but little Cassie Sarlow has had a very good report from her most recent tests.
In fact, the doctors could not find evidence of any tumors. So I'm very thankful that God has answered prayer for little Cassie. A little infant, for those of you who don't know, who was almost born with cancer, as far as we know.
Now let us ask God's help. Our Father, we give thanks. Thank you most of all for this blessed Savior. Thank you. We do not preach a religion tonight. It is not just a creed. It's not a doctrine. It is a blessed person.
The Lord Jesus. Neither is there salvation in any other. There is none of their name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We have heard in recent nights the words of the Savior. I am the way, the truth and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. So tonight we ask that the Lord Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, the great creator of heaven and earth. God grant that he may be exalted, that there might be some precious soul or souls in this company who for the first time will look away to Christ and trust in him.
Rest their soul upon his finished work and know their sins forgiven and their title clear to heaven. We thank you for all who have come through these four weeks. We thank you for all who are present tonight.
And we do pray, Lord, that this might be a memorable night. It might be a night of salvation for the glory and honor of our Lord Jesus. We pray for wherever the gospel is going out at this time. We think of Phoenix and the work among the Hispanic people.
And thank you for the blessings there has been. And so many being saved. We thank you for the work in Mexico and the blessing there. We think of this vast city, Mexico City, one of the largest in all the world.
And our dear brethren are laboring there, trying to reach lost souls for Christ. God bless the effort. We pray for Vandergriff there in western Pennsylvania and pray for our brother Seal as he travels back toward his own home.
We do pray to give him journeying mercies and protect him. And richly bless him and continue to use him for the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus. And again, Lord, we would humbly pray that thou would bless each one, each boy, each girl, each home, each family.
The needs are all known to thee. Meet the need out of the riches of thy grace. Bless Donna and bring her through this surgery safely, we pray. Bless dear little Cassie and others of this kind we commend to thee.
Give our thanks now for the Lord Jesus in his name. Amen. I would like to read, first of all, in the book of Job. If you have your Bible with you, it comes just before the book of Psalms. Job 21. These are the words of Job who went through such deep trial.
Job 21. Verse 13. They spend their days in wealth. I would think most here tonight would say, well, that doesn't describe me. But actually the word wealth is lightness. It means mirth. It means carelessness, if you will.
So we can read it that way and it's very accurate. They spend their days in carelessness. And in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
Verse 17 is very solemn. How often is the candle of the wicked put out. And how often cometh their destruction upon them. The book of Proverbs. As we were just singing that hymn about the tender call of the Savior.
I find this to be a very difficult verse even to read. And I humbly pray that this will not be the experience of anyone in our meeting tonight. Proverbs 29 and verse 1. And he that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
I won't be preaching on this very much, but let me read it again. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Now to the New Testament. To Matthew's Gospel chapter 23.
Matthew 23. I'm reading verse 37. This is the Lord Jesus speaking. We know from the Gospel of Luke chapter 19 that when He spoke these words, He wept. The Savior's tears have great meaning. Verse 37 of Matthew 23.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.
One more reading in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 11 and 12 of Hebrews 10. And every priest, these are Jewish priests of course, Hebrew priests, and every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. My scriptures have a very simple link. We've read about people who are often warned. And the warning is plain and clear.
It's a warning about sudden death, being taken away suddenly. Often warned. Proverbs 29 and 1, often reproved. And that's so solemn. He that being often reproved from a tender loving God, from a tender compassionate Savior, he that being often reproved.
Matthew 23 and verse 37, the Savior often entreats. And the often entreaty of the Savior is something all of us have known. He called me long before I heard, before my sinful soul was stirred. Often entreated.
I read Hebrews chapter 10 for, to me, what is a compelling reason. I think what we have in Hebrews 9 and 10 is the vast difference between religion and salvation. And the religion that is being described is the only divinely given religion.
The Jewish religion. And they offered oftentimes the same sacrifices, which could never take away sin. But in contrast to those often offerings, the sacrifices that were given so often, the great contrast is this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.
Often taken away. After preaching the gospel for many years, I've often had my heart broken. People for whom we prayed, to whom we preached, taken away suddenly. And there's something about our nature, something about our thinking.
I am absolutely certain that I have this in me and you have it in you. That when something speaks so loudly, as a person taken away without Christ, the thought in our minds is, it's not me, it never will be me.
We somehow exclude ourselves from such a tragedy. The difficulty is, so did those who were taken suddenly away. The many warnings fell on deaf ears. The language of Job 21 is very clearly the language of the crowd who mocked at the Savior that day in Jerusalem, when Pilate brought him out on the praetorium, and he stood on that raised platform before that tremendous mob, and they cried away with this man, we will not have him to reign over us.
So the language of Job 21 is the language of a Christ rejecter. I hope we don't have Christ rejecters tonight in this meeting. They rejected God's warnings. They rejected God's Son as their Savior. How often is the candle of the wicked put out, taken away suddenly.
Job 36 is a very solemn verse from God. Because there is wrath, beware, lest he take thee away with his stroke. Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. There is a parallel in these verses. Proverbs 29 and 1 says, He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Is there not a remedy? Yes. Calvary, the cross, the Savior who died is the remedy. He is the ransom. And Job 36 has language almost identical. Beware, lest he take thee away with his stroke. Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
So there's something God can't do. There's something God can't do. Oh, you say God can do anything. Wait a moment, friend. God cannot act contrary to his word, contrary to his character, contrary to holiness.
And there's something God can't do. God can't save a soul who rejects his son. God can't save a soul from hell. God can save tonight. For this we're deeply thankful. I would like to remind you, and this is much easier for me to speak about, I'd like to remind you of the tender entreaties of the Savior.
How compassionate, how loving, how true. And he wept. He wept alone. And men passed by, the men whose sins he bore. They saw the man of sorrows weep. They'd seen him weep before. The blessed Savior weeping for souls.
And from the depth of his being, crying, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. I wonder, and I've been thinking this all day, I wonder if you could hear the Savior tonight. If from heaven he would speak, I wonder would he wail, would he weep over some precious soul who is here?
How often, he said, how often would I have gathered thee? How often would I have saved you? How often would I have had mercy on you? How often would I have enclosed you in my arms of love and safety? How often?
But, I would. A tender Savior who says, I would. I would be your Savior. I would save you now. I would. But, we have said this many, many times in preaching, but I think we need to understand this. When God made man in the beginning, he made man with a will.
He didn't make a machine. He made a living person, a living soul with a will. And when God gave man a will, as C .S. Lewis has written, he well knew the risk he was taking. That that will could be used to man's own destruction.
Has it? Yes, it has. Men chose wrongly. They chose sin. They chose rebellion. They chose disobedience. They chose to sin against God. And God's judgment has fallen upon this race of men of whom we form a part.
Everywhere we look, we see evidences of the marring that sin has brought. The violence. The cruelty. The hatred. The need. A world of sorrow and tears. No wonder the Savior wept. No wonder He drew near.
I'm going to say this very simply. The Lord Jesus is drawing near tonight. He draws near in a meeting like this. And the Lord Jesus still yearns over precious souls. And perhaps to you tonight, He would say very tenderly, how often would I have gathered you?
How often would I have saved you? I would. I would. Calvary is the proof of that. The outstretched arms with the nails in His hands. The brow crowned with cruel thorns. The torn, bleeding back pressed against the cross.
The weight of His body hanging on torn wounds. Mr. Seale said on Friday night, the only way that a crucified person could breathe would be to push themselves up by their feet. But those feet were nailed.
So the only way a person like that could breathe would be to push down on the nails so that the congestion of the lungs would not be so intense. What an awful way to die. What a cruel invention crucifixion was.
But listen, friend. The Savior did not only suffer physical wounds on Calvary. He didn't only suffer the physical pain of being crucified. He suffered infinite sufferings from the hand of God. That's what I would rather preach tonight.
That's why I read Hebrews chapter 10 with you very simply. There are men who still offer oftentimes the same sacrifices. Actually, religion is men bringing something to God. Something to offer to God.
Something of their own work. Something of their effort. Something of their sincerity. Something of their goodness, their kindness. Doing the best they can. That's religion. Bringing something to God in exchange for salvation.
How great a contrast there is between offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins, and this man who offered one sacrifice for sins forever. I haven't spent very much time speaking on these verses.
But oh, let me say to you, God has warned you tenderly, lovingly, compassionately. The Savior treats you from a heart of infinite love. How often would I have saved you? And that blessed Savior on Calvary, once for all.
That's the meaning of 1 Peter 3 and 18. Christ also hath once, not just one time, but once for all suffered for sin. In fact, Hebrews 9 tells us that it was a once for all sacrifice that He offered. On Calvary there is one sacrifice.
There is one Savior. You must know Him. Now, this is a very special night in my experience. I ask you to forgive me for the personal story from this point on in my little message. A dear lady who was here this morning said to me, this is your birthday, isn't it?
And she doesn't even come from Jackson. She comes from a totally different part of the country. But I said, yes, this is my birthday. It's my spiritual birthday. I was saved at a quarter to nine on April 1, 1938.
If you say, how do you know it was a quarter to nine? Well, I figured that out a long time afterward. I didn't really know. I wasn't looking at a clock. My experience fits the Scriptures we've read tonight because God spoke to me through the silent preacher, death.
It came from a large family. I was the youngest. Closest brother to my age. I always looked up to him. I always tried to be with him as much as I could. Sometimes I'm certain I was a nuisance to him. A little brother who was trying to hang on an older brother.
I'm sure that often was his experience. I remember I went away to a park one day far from home, several miles, where I knew he was playing a game. Actually, it was soccer. Soccer was very popular even then in Canada.
And I made my way to this park. How I got there, don't ask me. I was only a little boy. I even took my little wagon with me. What for, I can't tell you. I remember my brother turning and saying to me, what are you doing here?
And he had to leave the game and take me home. But my dear brother was playing football one day and he was injured. The injury at the time was not really known to my parents. There's a reason for that.
He wanted to keep playing football. It was actually rugby, if you know the difference. If anything, rugby is a more violent game even than football. But that day he was hurt, he didn't say anything. He actually played to the end of the season.
He was the quarterback on the team. And finally, when the season was over, he said, I've had pain for all these weeks. I remember this so vividly. I remember the old high ambulance going from our front door down the street.
Little did I know that day when they took Harry away to St. Joseph's Hospital that he would never come home. I didn't know that. There was something very ominous about that day. It lingers vividly in my mind.
Harry went through 14 months of suffering. And a powerful, big young man, about 190 pounds I suppose he was, 6 '4 in height. And Harry lay on a hospital bed, skin and bones, 70 pounds was his weight at his death.
He got saved. I don't mean he just said he was saved. I mean Harry got saved. One day a preacher came in to see him and found him reading the Bible. The preacher very wisely spoke to him briefly, prayed with him and left.
And when the preacher had left the room that day, Harry looked down at the Bible where he had been reading. John 5 and 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you. He told us afterwards that it was the Lord speaking directly to him from His written Word.
He didn't hear any voice. The Lord was speaking. I'm talking to you. He that hears My Word and believes God that sent Me hath everlasting life. In that very moment, all alone in that hospital room, Harry got everlasting life.
He proved it. He proved it with six months of testimony that was so powerful. Archie Campbell, who was a star player with the Toronto Maple Leafs, was saved through Harry in the hospital. The Mother Superior in St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital in the west end of Toronto.
The Mother Superior got saved through Harry's testimony. And she lived for 30 years afterward to prove the reality of it. Yes, she still went to the Mass, but she said it wasn't to get her sins forgiven.
It was to give the Lord Jesus thanks for dying for her. And that dear lady knew Christ and stood in the room that day when the family gathered around that bed. And Harry left earth and went to heaven.
It was a simple funeral. It was in our own home. The casket was brought into the living room. I stood beside that casket when all the friends had come and gone. The only person left in that room. And I looked into that still face.
I learned something that night. I suppose it was near midnight, but I learned something I've never forgotten. Death is real. It is so permanent. He's never coming back. And He's in heaven. And if I were in a casket like that, I would be in hell.
I knew it. Mr. Sam McEwen, one of our most able gospel preachers, came to the city of Toronto to have gospel meetings. They were very large meetings. Many, many hundreds of people came. But that final night, six weeks of preaching, I was there every night.
And that final night, it was Friday. It was April 1st, 1938. I sat in that meeting that night thinking that I'd missed any opportunity of getting saved. I sometimes use the language of Acts 27. All hope that I should be saved was taken away.
I was hopeless and helpless and lost. Mr. McEwen read from Revelation 20. And it was verse 15. Even though I could quote the words, those words came home to me that night as if I'd never heard them before.
Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. And I pictured myself standing before the Lord Jesus at the great white throne of judgment. And the books were open.
And another book was open which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books. And whosoever, if that was my name, it couldn't have been clearer. Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
I believed I was going to hell and would never get saved. But much faster than my words which we'll be able to convey to you in a moment, it dawned on me. That's why the Lord Jesus was on the cross. That's why He suffered there.
He died for me. He died for my sins. I had tried so hard to believe in Christ for years. I had tried to trust Him. I had tried my best to have faith. I wasn't even thinking about having faith. That night I was saved.
I wasn't even thinking of believing. I was only thinking of what Christ had done. I often wonder if the preacher when I went out the door that night and shook his hand, I didn't tell him I got saved in the meeting.
I often wonder if he had asked me if I was saved what I would have said. Because I really only had two things. I'll never be in hell because Jesus died for me. I couldn't help but trust Him when I understood that He had died in my place.
I always tell this, and the Christians here have heard me tell it often. I walked home to a big park. It was a city. The lights were shining in all the streets. But in the middle of the park, there were no lights.
When I got into the middle of the park, I looked up and I saw what city children don't very often see. A sky studded with diamond-like stars. So brilliant, so bright in that clear sky. I was overwhelmed.
The God who made all that gave His only Son to die for me. I thanked Him from the depth of my being and I've been trying to thank Him ever since. Sixty-three years have come and gone tonight. It's real.
I would have to tell you I don't understand any better tonight why He would love me than I did that night 63 years ago. But I know He did. And this man, this blessed Savior, my Savior, this man offered one sacrifice for sins forever.
And He just sat down because His work is finished. It is finished is the great cry of triumph from Calvary. And I'm trusting not in anything I've ever done or anything I could do. I'm trusting alone in this man who offered Himself once for all a sacrifice for my sins.
And He trusted Him. Is He your Savior tonight? God grant as you listen to my dear brother preach the Gospel that we sound souls here who will trust.