Week of Meetings 1986-01 — Stan Ford

I heard how a Savior came from glory, how he gave his life, I heard of his precious blood, then I read of his cleansing power, how he made the lame and caused the blind to come and heal my friend, and then I heard about...

...here for the first time, who's never been to a service at the Northgate Chapel. If you are, we have a little packet of material we'd like for you to have. No hands. Well, it's good to see a number out this morning to enjoy the Word of God.

And I meant to mention also, today is Bulletin Day. If you didn't get yours, they are on the table in the back. Our brother Gene is absent today, and, well, I don't think anyone was back there giving them out.

But in that little folder, you'll find a little folder sharing the Word. It tells you about the Gideons. And there's something else there that looks pretty good, too. There's something about eating. I don't know what it is, but I like it.

It's a pizza party, 6 .30, so on. You look at it, and you might want to get in on that. Well, it's a real joy to have our brother with us today. Stand forward. We'll turn the service over to him.

Almost Persuaded: The Call to Readiness

I wonder if we could turn together into the Acts of the Apostles, please. And I'd like to read just a verse or two from chapter 26. And as soon as I say that, you know what's on my heart. Chapter 26 of the Acts of the Apostles.

By the way, I see you haven't changed at all since last I was here. Last time I threatened to preach one night from that end to make sure you'd all be in the front seats. I'll have to do it before the day's over, you know.

I'll have to do it. Well, it's nice to see you. Acts chapter 26, if we may please. Verse 27, for the sake of time. King Agrippa, may I please remind you that this is the last of the Jewish kings. The Jews haven't had a king since this day.

They won't have one until he whose right it is to reign will reign. But this is the last of the Jewish kings. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost. And altogether such as I am, except these both. May the Lord just add his blessing to us once again as we consider his word.

Just a word of prayer. Dear Lord, our hearts have been moved as we have been hearing how thou hast worked through the Gideons. And thou hast blessed the distribution of thy work. We ask this morning that as that same word is preached, that each one of us here may be blessed of thee.

We pray thee, O Lord, that thou wilt make us realize that thou hast in the day in which we live, a message for each one of us. We pray for listening ears and receptive hearts, that we pray most of all for obedient wills, that we may be doers of the word of God.

Bless us then we pray. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. I wonder if I may ask a question, and I do trust that not one of you will be offended by it. But I must ask it. It's simply this. Are you a Christian?

Oh, I've another question. It's almost as important. It is not only, are you a Christian? Christian are you? It is not necessary for me to remind you, in a Bible-loving church like this, that although we speak about being Christians and we talk about it in such a light fashion, the word itself only occurs three times in the Bible.

You were taught that in Sunday school. I'm not telling you something new. You know that the name, the word Christian only occurs three times in the book that has all to do about Christians. And so I think you will grant me that surely those three occasions must instruct us as to what a Christian really is.

Christian Identity Begins with Conversion and Commitment

You remember that it occurs first of all in the Acts of the Apostles, in the 11th chapter and in verse 26. They were first called Christians at Antioch. Now it's possible to be called a Christian without being one.

May I remind you of a very ridiculous story that I expect I've told you before, but if I haven't, I should have. And if I have, I'm still going to tell it. But years ago, you know, when the father of the present...

You must forgive me for all my stories being English-American ones. But years ago, when the father of our present queen was just a boy, he and his brother were playing in Windsor Great Park, near to Windsor Castle where they lived.

Now all Windsor Great Park, it's open for anyone. But of course these two boys, the princes of the realm, as they played, nearby was an English bobby. Complete with helmets. And as they kicked their hole, one of them up with his foot and kicked the hole.

And it went towards a little pillar who was walking through Windsor Great Park. There was a fair difference between him and the two princes. Because his cheek was nearly out of his pants. And he had gerbils all over his face.

And his hair was as ruffled as a boy's can be. But what boy could resist? And as the ball came to him, he up with his foot and... Right through the air it went. And over went the policeman's helmet. Now you might do that to an American policeman.

What's your name? I'm Prince George. Where do you live? Windsor Castle. I'm Prince Edward. Windsor Castle. All the while the little boy with the dirty pants and the seat out of his pants was listening.

Night over. Suddenly the policeman looked at him and said, what's your name? Call Governor he said. Call. I'm the Duke of Wellington. Oh I say. I say. He might call himself the Duke of Wellington. But the only way you can be the son of a king is by being born the son of a king.

We might call ourselves a Christian. But the only way we can be a Christian is by being born again. And here, the first mention that they were called Christians. But what was it that made them Christians?

Surely it was this. That here were a people who were committed to the Lord. May I read just what that great chapter says of them? It says that here were a people who believed and turned to the Lord. Here were a people, verse 23, that they were exalted with purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord.

Here were a people, verse 24, they were added to the Lord. Have you noticed? Not added to the church. Sir, if you will permit me, not added to the Gideons. Here were a people who were added to the Lord.

They were committed to Him. May I ask? Have you believed? Have you turned? May I ask, please? Are you cleaving to the Lord? What does the Lord mean in your life? That is the first mention of a Christian.

They were a people who were committed to the Lord. The second mention is the verse that we are going to consider. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. So a person not only has to be committed, but a person has to be convinced about the Lord.

Committed to the Lord and convinced about the Lord. Almost thou persuadest me. You see, it is not enough to say that my mother loves the Lord. It is not enough to say my father loves the Lord. It is not enough to say I was born in a Christian home.

Born in a Christian country. There has to be a time when we ourselves are a people not only committed to the Lord, but convinced about the Lord. It affects not only our feet. It affects our head, our mind, our convictions.

A Christian Is Controlled by the Lord

The last mention, of course, as you know, of a Christian was written by Peter. When Peter took his pen and wrote that sixteenth verse of the fourth chapter of his first letter, he spoke about those who because they were Christians, they suffered.

If any man suffer as a Christian, or he goes on and says, not suffering as a murderer or an evildoer, not suffering as a thief or a busybody in other people's matters. But if ye suffer as a Christian, happy are ye.

And if words tell me anything, these words tell me that a person who is a Christian is not only a person committed to the Lord, convinced about the Lord, but he's controlled by the Lord. Here's a man whose life is such that you can say of it, he's not a murderer, he's not a thief, he's not an evildoer, he's not a busybody.

He's a follower of the Savior. May I ask again, as I ask myself, are we Christians? Are we those who have committed ourselves to Him? Are we those who are convinced about Him? Are we those who are controlled by Him?

Agrippa: Recognizing Truth Without Receiving Christ

Now, in the story that we have read a few verses of, when Paul stands for his life before the last of the Jewish kings, we have two classes of people. We have a person who's a Christian. We have a person who's not a Christian.

And I want us to look at them as men. I trust before we've finished, each one of us will be able to examine our hearts, that we will know where we're found today, and make our decision, if we've not trusted Christ, to trust Him.

First of all, let's think for a moment of this king, King Agrippa. Now, there are one or two very strange things about him. One or two things that, really, when we casually read the story, we're apt to forget.

May I remind you, first of all, that here was a king who recognized the truth. Oh, no. He was no hot-and-tot. He was no disbeliever in God. He was a man who recognized the truth. Do you remember the first words that the apostles said to him, when King Agrippa said to him, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself.

He looked into the face of the king and he said, I find myself happy this day, King Agrippa, because I can answer to thee concerning these things, because I know thee to be an expert in all questions concerning the Jews.

He was an expert in all questions concerning the Jews. My friend, I haven't time to go into its depth, but may I remind you of it. If you turn with me in thought back into the book of Deuteronomy, you will remember that God laid down certain laws concerning who should be a king in Israel.

God said to the king that came to Israel that he had to be a man, that 17th chapter, and I believe it is about the 18th verse of Deuteronomy. God said about that king that he had to be a man who would write, who would read, who would learn, who would keep and do all the law of the priests and the Levites.

And here was a man that looked into the face of King Agrippa, the apostle Paul, and said, I know you are an expert. Oh, you have read the law. You have read the prophets. You not only have read them, but you have learned them by heart.

Oh, come on now, you Christians here today. If I was to start off into the books of the Pentateuch, or the books of the prophets, how many of us here today, and I speak from my own heart, how many of us could have quoted them all by heart?

Oh, we can read it, but have we learned it by heart? But here was a man who certainly knew his own testament, and quoted all by heart. He wasn't a Christian. He wasn't a Christian. All we have been reading today, or hearing today, of men and women who have taken the Word of God and read it, and have been convicted of their sin, and have left to the Saviour.

Don't you forget the book they have read contains the New Testament. It contains the story of Jesus. He was a man who knew all the Old Testament. I say he was a man who not only recognized the truth, but you know the Apostle Paul looked at him and said, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?

I know thou believest. Is it possible to believe the prophets and not be a Christian? Well, that's what these words say. Here was a king. I say, King Agrippa, if he were here today, I would ask him a question.

I would look at him and say, King Agrippa, tell me, sir, tell me. Do you believe the prophets? Do you believe what was written 700 years before Jesus was ever born, when Mitre took his pen and wrote that Jesus should be born in Bethlehem?

Do you believe that? Believest thou the prophets? I know thou believest. He believed Mitre 5 and 12. Do you believe that when Jesus should be born, that would not be the beginning of him? That before he stepped into this world and came here as a babe in Bethlehem's barn, that as our brother read to us in the 8th chapter of Proverbs this morning, he lived.

Believest thou the prophets? Oh yes, I believe that 5th chapter of Mitre. I believe that he existed for he was from everlasting. I say, believest thou the prophets? Do you believe? Do you believe indeed what Zachariah dared to say, that there would come a time when the Messiah would be sold for 30 pieces of silver?

That was written 500 years before Jesus came. Believest thou the prophets? I know thou believest. Oh, King Agrippa, do you believe? Do you believe in the words of Zachariah 12 and 10, that they would pierce his side 500 years before Jesus came?

I believe. I know thou believest. Oh, I say, let's come nearer our time. Let's remember the words indeed of Isaiah. What was it Isaiah said? He dared say that he was one who would suffer for our sins, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.

That not only would he die, but he would be buried. Not only would he die and be buried, but he would be raised from amongst the dead. Not only this, but when he died, he would die in the midst of criminals, and he would make his grave with the wicked and the rich in his death.

Believest thou the prophets? I know thou believest. To believe intellectually, all those that are victims of the claims of Christ, some of them will rip through the words of the angels. I believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ.

They'll even say, I believe in the forgiven. They believe in the head. They believe there was a man who lived once long ago called Jesus. They believe he went about doing good. They believe. They never believed in their heart.

We had a dear old brother in our meeting years ago, who in rather a remarkable, somewhat crude way, used to say, I don't want you to believe in your head. If you believe in your head, I'll stick a fledgehammer through you and give it a bang so it gets down in your heart.

And I'll give you another bang so it goes down into your feet and you're walking away from it. Oh, I wouldn't say that, of course. I'm only repeating what he said. I only know this. That it's not enough just to believe.

Believest thou the prophets? He believed, but he wasn't saved. He said so. Almost as persuasive as me to be a Christian. It wasn't someone else said he wasn't a Christian. He said it. Although he recognized the truth.

The Danger of Being Almost Persuaded

For the tragedy of this man is that the man who recognized the truth was the man who resisted the truth. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Almost. My friend, if you're hungry, almost eating doesn't fill you, does it?

If you're thirsty, almost drinking doesn't quench your thirst, does it? If you're tired, almost sleeping doesn't restore you to strength again, does it? If you're traveling on a train, almost catching the train doesn't take you to your destination.

I think almost is one of the fittest words of the English vocabulary. Almost. Almost. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. This is the story of near achievement and yet total loss. This is the story of a Moses, surely, who blazed a good trail, who climbed Mount Nebo, who saw the promised land, but never entered it.

Oh, my friend, almost is not enough. Almost. Is there someone here? Oh, please, some of you I remember. As long as you don't ask me afterwards what's my name. I remember your faces. Some of you I can remember where I saw last and how you stood with me and the children as we had the children's services here those years ago.

But some of you I've never met before. Am I talking to someone who says this morning, I'm almost a Christian? I've been going along there so often. I've heard the Gospel preached so frequently. I've been stirred in my being.

I would say amen to the historical truths that they preach there in the Gospel chapel. And yet you've never trusted the Lord. The man who recognized the truth. The man who resisted the truth. But please.

Renouncing the Truth Versus Receiving Christ

And who renounced the truth. There came a time when he committed Paul to prison. When he committed Paul to prison. And in committing him to prison told the whole world, No Christ for me. I shudder that the day will ever dawn in anyone's experience when we will renounce the truth.

But against him, alongside him if you will, there stands another man. Not a king. As you gaze at him with the chains on his hands and feet. Chains that made him say, I wish you were just like me except these bonds.

What a man. If ever there was a person that we would say was a Christian. He was given to us led by the Spirit of God so much of the Holy Word. And as we look at him, all we're bound to ask the question, is he a Christian?

Paul's Transformation from Opponent to Follower

This prisoner. What has he to say to us? He leaves us in no doubt, you know. He tells us that first of all, he was a man who thought. For in the words of verse 9 he says, Verily I thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

He looks back over his life and he remembers the time when he gave some consideration to the claims of Christ. He thought indeed of the truth of the Word of God, for he was a Pharisee of Pharisees. And yet in his thinking, he was led to say no to Jesus Christ.

But he was not only a man who thought. I say, could I say he was a man who fought? There are many a man or a woman who thinks about the claims of Christ and says, not for me. There are some men and women who not only think of the claims of Christ and say, not for me, but openly will stand and will fight against the things of Christ.

Societal Disorder and Resistance to Christ

We are living in a day of a sick society. I find no joy whatsoever in opening my newspaper and turning the knob of my wireless, looking at my television and hearing the news. I find no joy in going through a list of things that is breaking up our nations.

In my country the same as yours, the breakup of marriage, the increase of drugs, the drinking among young people. All around us we are finding folk indeed who cannot be trusted, whose word is useless.

Prisons full, in lands where the gospel has been preached. I can understand that happening in China. I can understand that happening in Russia. I can understand that happening in lands where the name of Jesus has never been heard.

But in our lands, I look and I say, oh, there are those who not only think about Christ, but there are those who fight against Christ. Those who go forth and like Paul say, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, to stifle down the voice of that which is righteous and good.

Repentance Before the Holy God

But something happened. The man who fought and the man who fought was the man who fell. The man who fell, for he saw a light above the brightness of the noonday sun and he says,. And when we were all fallen to the ground, all fallen to the ground.

My friend, if there is one thing that I am more persuaded that I've ever been in my life, it's the need of our day. It's a need of old-fashioned repentance. A need of the realization that when we come in contact with Christ, we are coming in contact with a Christ Holy God.

Oh, my friend, my friend, when you and I compare ourselves to one another, we're not too bad, are we? I was speaking at a school the day before yesterday on Friday. And as I spoke to this crowd of youngsters, first of all, of course, I spoke to the little ones.

And then I just took two or three minutes and spoke to the seniors there. And I just used a little illustration that I sometimes use and I may have used in schools around here. But I whipped out a piece of chalk and on the board I said, Oh, when I went to school we used to have arithmetic.

Of course, they're very posh today, they call it mathematics. But, you know, the master, he took his piece of chalk and he drew a little horizontal line. And he said, Boys, don't forget, that means...

And they got it right. And then he took his chalk and he took two horizontal lines. And that means... And they got it right. And then he put a piece of chalk and he put a perpendicular line and a horizontal line.

And that means... Then we spoke of a little verse in James. What is your life? Is it minus? Is it equal? Or is it plus? And I reminded them that there's lots of folk I need to save. Oh, I'm as good as you.

I told them of an occasion when I was in South Wales and we were inviting folk to the service. And I knocked the door and spoke to a good gentleman and asked him to the service. And he poked me in the chest and he said, Mr. Morgan, I'm as good as anyone that goes there.

And I poked him back and I hope I poked him back a bit harder. And I said, Listen, Mr. Williams, you're not only as good as anyone who goes there, but you're as bad as anyone who goes there. Who are you equal with?

You're not equal with the Lord. And Paul suddenly saw the brightness of the sun and he fell down. My friend, a man who was thinking. A man who was fighting. A man who was fallen. But oh, hallelujah, a man who followed.

For he looks up into the face of King Agrippa in verse 19 and he says,. And I was not disobedient to that heavenly vision. I ask you today, King Agrippa, the Apostle Paul, who would represent you? The man who recognizes the truth, but resisted it and renounced it?

Or the man who renounced it, resisted it, hallelujah, then received it? Are you a Christian? If you are, if there's been a time when you took Jesus Christ as your Savior, what sort of Christian are you?

Following Christ in Obedient Discipleship

What sort of Christian? I was not disobedient. How easy it is to disobey the Lord when we've even trusted Him and asked Him to be our Savior. All that we hear may be found as a people who are not only those who receive the Lord, but those who follow Him.

Oh, my friend, our time has come to a close. May I ask you, are you a Christian? What sort of Christian are you? All that we may be found as those who have taken Christ as our Savior and are seeking day by day to crown Him as our Sovereign.

That we may be followers of the Lord. And if by chance there's someone here and you've never trusted the Lord, you say, I'm not sure that I am a Christian, can I help you? I took from the shelves in the little study I'm using a few of these little tracts.

I didn't ask permission to take them, sir, but I took them. I'm not going to take them away with me, sir, after they did the Gideon Bible. If there's someone here this morning, not sure you want to be sure, I hold in my hand a few copies of that lovely little tract, God's Way of Salvation.

Not my way of salvation, I haven't got a way. If you are not sure and you want to be sure, come and ask us. And I would accept that as a sign from you of your willingness to talk about these things. I'd love to open my Bible and point you to my Savior.

I'd rather speak to a lady, my wife's here, there's plenty of sisters here, plenty of counselors, plenty of brethren. You know much better than I, no virtue in coming to me. If we can help you find Christ, find me, the Lord.

O God and Father, we bless Thee together for Thy Word. We thank Thee that You leave us in no doubt whatsoever that it's possible for us to know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

And we don't want to be like that last king of the Jews. We don't want to be folk who give some outward assent to things, who recognize truth. We don't want to be those who resist it. But oh, we long tonight to say that we might be the receivers of that truth.

And as the receivers of the truth, the recipients of the salvation that Jesus Christ died on Calvary's cross to secure for us. Bless us then, we pray. And as we part one from another, enough of thee. Make thy face to shine upon us and grant us, my dear, for Jesus.