I had not expected to be here. But through circumstances beyond our control, it was possible for me to come. It's a real joy to be back again in part of the past. There are many, many dear friends here that we haven't seen for some time. And I don't think that there's anything that warms our heart more than to see friends that we have known and loved. and have prayed and worked with over the years. And to be back again, it gives me tremendous joy. Now, during the past few weeks, I've been very interested in looking at the two books in the New Testament that Dr. Luke wrote. First of all, the Gospel, according to Luke, and then the Acts of the Apostles. I've been trying to study these books, going back to them again. And I thought that what I would like to speak about this morning is the apostolic preaching of the gospel that we find in the Acts of the Apostles. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about any particular text, but I want to try to point out the gospel that these men preached in those days, and it's still the same gospel today. My beloved friends, we do need the gospel. We need the gospel of the grace of God here in the United States. what the world is badly needing as men who are full of the Holy Ghost and preaching the gospel in such a way that it reaches the hearts of men and women of their conscience as well. I just want to read a short passage in Acts chapter two, the first great sermon that the Apostle Peter preached. So shall we read that passage please? Acts chapter two, and we'll read from verse twenty-two. E men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, and he yourselves also know. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, he have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. I want you to notice the first thing here. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, he starts with the sin of the people that were before him. And any gospel preacher, he always has to start with that. He reminded them of that great sin that they committed when they delivered him up and crucified the Messiah upon Calvary's cross. So the way he starts is reminding them of their condition and of their sin. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands, have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. Now, first of all, he reminds them of their sin, and the next thing he reminds them of the crucifixion of Christ, of his atoning death upon the cross. And the third thing he mentions here is his glorious resurrection from the dead. Four different times he reminds us of the resurrection of Christ. Now let's come down to the end of the sermon, please. But verse thirty-seven. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. Now that word pricked, that means to the staff, just like a man with a sword in his hand, and piercing that person with a sword, they were pricked in their hearts. Here we get conviction of sin of these people, and that we can never bypass. And notice what it says. It said unto Peter, unto the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent. There must be repentance. We cannot bypass that. What does it mean to repent? That means to change your mind. First of all, about God. And then about yourself. Repent, he said. They were stabbed in their heart. Conviction had taken hold of them. And they were reminded of that great judicial sin they committed when they crucified the Messiah on Calvary Strauss. They were pricked in their heart. They were convicted. And then they're told to repent. And notice the other word. Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. Then David gladly received his word, were baptized. On the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls, and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine, and in fellowship, and on the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Now, we could occupy all our time this morning in looking at this tremendous sermon that Simon Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. The different words that he used. But just let me emphasize again. He starts off with sin. On the terrible sin that these people had committed. And when he speaks of that. He said. By wicked hand. He has crucified and slain. He speaks of the crucifixion of our Lord. Dying upon Calvary's cross. On their part. In the terrible terrible act that they committed. When he. When he spoke about that. Then he speaks about the resurrection of Christ. four different times. The one that they crucified was resurrected, and then he was exalted to God's right hand. And then he uses the term in verse thirty-six. Therefore let all the hearts of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, O Lord, and Christ. Well, thank God for his exaltation. And after they were convicted, they were told to repent. And then they that planned to receive this word, where he were baptized, on the same day was handed unto them about three thousand souls. This tremendous sermon of Simon Peter, it goes into the gospel in detail. This is apostolic preaching. And we do thank God for those that follow the example of God's dear servant that day on the day of Pentecost. Now, when we look at the Acts of the Apostles, the overall picture that we get there, we find that there were three outstanding preachers, three outstanding preachers of the gospel. Now the first one was Simon Peter, and his principal audience was the Jew. And then we read about a man called Philip the Evangelist in chapter eight, and he went to Samaria, and he preached the gospel, and there was a tremendous work done there. And the third great outstanding preacher in the Acts of the Apostles is the Apostle Paul. Now if we were to read right through the Acts of the Apostles you'll find that there are fourteen great sermons in the Acts of the Apostles. Seven of them were preached by the Apostle Peter and seven of them were preached by the Apostle Paul. And if you were to look at them and read them carefully and analyze them you'll find that what Peter said on the day of Pentecost is just in synoptic form the different messages that these men gave. They all spoke about sin. They all reminded us of our condition in the sight of God as sinners. And the ultimate sin that was committed was the judicial murder of the Messiah upon Calvary's cross. After speaking about sin, then he lifts up the person of Christ. And what a joy it is for any gospel preacher to start off with them, not to speak about themselves. We preach Christ crucified, said the Apostle Paul, and we do thank God for the crucifixion and the work of Christ upon Calvary's cross, his atoning death, his vicarious death, his victorious death upon the cross, and then his glorious bodily resurrection from the tomb, and then finally his exaltation. He has been made both Lord and Christ. Any man who preaches the gospel must be very careful to mention these words, Lord and Christ. He has been me, both Lord and Christ. You know, there's the gospel being preached today in some places, and it's a very superficial thing. Just believe in Jesus. Give your heart to Jesus, or something of that kind. That is not the gospel of the New Testament. We preach him as Lord. on Christ. And anyone who doesn't do that, they certainly do not preach the gospel that the Apostles praise. Peter said he hath been made both Lord and Christ. I want to look at that a little later on in some of the other cases that we want to mention. But you remember what it says in Romans ten and nine, the Apostle Paul there and speaking about the gospel that he preached. He says this, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus as Lord. And believe in thine heart that God raised them from the dead, thou shalt deceive. It's not just so much Jesus and believing in Jesus or giving your heart to Jesus. That is a superficial way of looking at the gospel that these men preach. They preach them as Lord. And when a person comes to him and gets down before him, they acknowledge him. not only a savior and they can use his name that precious name of Jesus but they confess him as Lord and they accept them as Lord and Christ this is the apostolic gospel that these men preached now let me again repeat that Peter preached seven sermons and the Apostle Paul he preached seven sermons and when we look at the fourteen different sermons that these men preached and analyze them It all boils down to a few great outstanding fundamental facts. I have already mentioned them. Now after the three men that God chose to preach the gospel in the Acts of the Apostles, they took it not only from the religious center of Jerusalem, but Paul finally ended up in Rome. That was the political center. And the Acts of the Apostles is the first generation of Christianity. In this book, the Acts of the Apostles, it's the manual of doctrine that we find that these men preach, not only in the Gospel, but also the doctrine of Christ. It is the most important book in the Gospel according to Luke. Dear Dr. Luke, In that gospel, he again goes into the fundamentals. It has been said that what he has to say about the person of Christ in the gospel is, first of all, his virgin birth. Then secondly, his holy life, his virtuous life. And then thirdly, his vicarious death. And fourthly, his victorious resurrection. And in the beautiful little paragraph at the end of the Gospel According to Luke, we get his visible ascension to God's right hand. It was a man who is an infidel. His near was Ernest Renan. He was a literary critic, but he was an agnostic. He didn't believe in Scripture, but he said about the Gospel According to Luke that it was the most beautiful book in the world. And I believe that that's perfectly true. Dear Dr. Luke, the things most surely believed among us. This is what he's speaking about in the Gospel and the life of our Blessed Lord covering a generation. The Gospel according to Luke, but in the Acts of the Apostles it is the first generation of Christianity. And he continues here in this lovely, lovely book. He gave us some great fundamental facts not only concerning the person of Christ but also the methods that Christians should use in taking the gospel to people. Now after the three evangelists or the three outstanding speakers, the three gospel preachers and the Acts of the Apostles, there are three outstanding cases of conversion. Here at Pentecost, you remember there were three thousand souls. When they heard the message, they were convicted by the Holy Spirit on that day they were born again and they were baptized. and worried that they were added to the church. A wonderful work of grace. When we come over into chapter four, we find there are five thousand people who had accepted the gospel. Those were days when there was tremendous power in the preaching of the gospel. Three thousand at Pentecost and a little later on, five thousand. And we read that a great company of the priests were added to the church. They believed the gospel. They were added to the faith. They were added to the church. And then in Acts chapter eight and nine and ten, there are three individuals that are picked up where we get an account of how they got saved. And when you look at it, I believe that these three individuals were deliberately chosen out of that vast multitude of people who had heard and who had believed the gospel. First of all, we find a man from Africa, the Ethiopian unit. Secondly, we find a man from Asia. That is Saul of Tarshish. And thirdly, we find a man from Europe. That is the man that was a Roman soldier, Cornelius, the Roman soldier. And we get an account of how they get saved. And when we look at it, in very, very simple language, here we find how God can deal with the individual. These three men were deliberately chosen. One was a son of Ham, one was a son of Shem, and one was a son of Jebed. And the three cases of conversion we get here, each of them are entirely different. And we see how God works sovereignly through the Holy Spirit of God in doing this tremendous work where people are able to get saved. Now let's think, first of all, of chapter eight. and then chapter nine and then chapter ten, where we get these three individuals. In chapter eight we find Philip the Evangelity goes to Samaria and he preaches the Gospel. And we read that there was a tremendous work of grace done in that place. I don't need to tell you that the one who laid the foundation for the preaching of the Gospel in Samaria was the Lord himself. That lovely story that we find in John chapter four and the woman at the well. You know, we have known these things from childhood. And that beautiful story of the Lord weiried with his journey. He sat thus by the well. And a woman came with a water pat on her head, and the Lord weiried with his journey. He had probably walked about forty miles to get there. And he said, would you please give me a drink? Or she said, you're a Jew, and I am a woman of Samaria. And the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Now the Lord avoided the racial question. He didn't mention it at all. But he started to speak to her about the living water. We all know this story so well. And the Lord, he followed the same route that we find here in the Acts of the Apostles connected with the Gospel. He said, you go and fetch her husband. Oh, she said, I don't have a husband. Oh, yes, he said, you have a husband. He said, you have five husbands. And the man that you're living with today is not your husband at all. And she was surprised. He reminded her of her sinful life. And he awakened her conscience. He first of all awakened her interest about the living water. And then he arised her conscience. And then she began to speak about a religion. And the Lord, he gave her some wonderful teaching connected with true worship from God. And finally he revealed himself to her. I that speak unto thee and he. And that woman, she went to the city. And what happened there was the foundation of what we find in the Acts of the Apostles. The same place where the woman of Samaria had said, Is not this the Christ? And where that work was started by the Lord himself, we find that Philip goes there and he's preaching in Samaria. But the Holy Spirit speaks to him and he told him to go down to the desert. on that way down to the way that goes on to Gaza, what we call the Negev today. And when he went down there, he left the crowd, and he went down there, and he found a man in a chariot sitting reading the word of God. You know, the Ethiopian eunuch, if you look at Ethiopia, where he came from, and if you think of Jerusalem and do a little bit of investigation, you'll find that he had covered several thousand miles. The Holy Spirit had been dealing with this man and he came to Jerusalem seeking for something to satisfy his heart. Whether he heard about the Lord and what had happened so very recently we don't know. But he's returning and God works a miracle to get the gospel to that man. And he takes Philip away from that tremendous crowd in Samaria and the wonderful work that was going on. And he sees this man sitting in this chariot and he's reading the prophet Isaiah. You know, he couldn't have read a better book. It was all providential. And he couldn't have read a better passage. And Philip, the Holy Spirit spoke to him. And he said, join myself in this chariot. And believe that he ran. You know, you don't very often find a preacher running. Sometimes we're very dignifying and so on. Well, here is the evangel. He runs. He might have missed his chance. But when he arrived at the chariot, he said, do you understand what you're reading? Oh, he said, how could I except some man should guide me? And we were told the passage that he was reading. It couldn't have been a better passage. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her shears is done. So he opened up his mouth. And so he invited Philip to sit with him in the chariot. And there was an open Bible in their hand. We read that Philip, he started to preach to him. And they gave the opportunity, he said, Is he speaking about himself or of some other man? With this passage, and we read that Philip, he preached unto him Jesus. Sitting there in the chariot. You know, this is a way I believe that God is working today. I believe that more souls are saved on a one-to-one basis than in any other way. I thank God for men who speak to a congregation. We'll look at that in a moment. But thank God for people that are soul winners and are able to sit down beside a person with an open book and preach unto him, Jesus, and open the Word of God to what a wonderful, wonderful opportunity Philip had. He preached unto him Jesus, and from Isaiah fifty-three, he couldn't have had a better passage. The Lord opened my eyes sixty-seven years ago in that wonderful chapter. He was wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace, was laid upon him, and with the stripes were healed. And I rest with my soul on what Jesus did upon the cross. When he laid down his life sacrificially, and I put my name in, he was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquity, the chastisement of my peace was laid upon him, and with the stripes I was healed. And sixty-seven years ago, sitting with the word of God on my lap, I put my faith and trust in Christ. and I was born again. You know, it's a wonderful thing to see people today that have the gift of soul winning, possibly never on a platform, but to have the opportunity of sitting down face to face with some individual, a seeking soul, just like the Ethiopian eunuch, and opening the word of God to these wonderful passages preaching unto him, that blessed one that was a lamb brought to the slaughter. And as a sheep for shears is done, he opened not his mouth. And so they came to a certain water. And they ate the oatmeal. He said to Philip, he said, What does hinder me to be baptized? He said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. By the way, baptism is always for a believer. Any baptism before conversion is absolutely without worth. It's not valid at all. Repetism is for a believer. He said, if you believe with all your heart you may. And he answered, I believe. He said that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And so they got down into the chariot, went down into the water, and he baptized him, came up out of the water, and revealed that Philip, he went to his office, and the Ethiopian eunuch, he went on his way rejoicing. I would like to continue here and speak a little bit about the results that have been from that tremendous event that took place in the chariot on the way to Gat. I believe that many of the things that that man brought home with him is spread across Central Africa in those early days. It would be interesting to start and speak about different things that the primitive African believes. I believe it came from this man. It would be an interesting study. But the point that I want to make here is the way that God used his word here, it was one individual sitting down beside another, a seeking soul and opening the word of God and preaching Christ to him and telling him about the Lord that died upon Calvary's cross. And by the way, if there's a seeking soul here this morning, that would give us tremendous joy. when our meeting is over, just to sit down beside you and to open the word of God and point you to that one who is able to save and keep, and he is the only one that's able to do it. So here is the first great case of salvation, a man from Africa. Now in chapter nine, an entirely different type and an entirely different way that God reached this man. I don't need to tell you the Apostle Paul, his former name was Saul. and he was the persecutor of the church. If you would look at the writings of the Apostle Paul, you'll find that in two of his speeches and in four of his letters he mentions what he was doing before God saved them. He was a terrible individual, breathing out threatening and slaughter, and the man that actually stood beside Stephen when he was being martyred, the first martyr of the Christian church, standing there, and he was the witness that held the clothes. that the man that were doing that terrible deed and sending Stephen into glory. He's on his way to Damascus. And as he's on his way, we'll read about a light from heaven drawn round the bottom. And a voice from heaven said, Saul, Saul. Notice the double knock. When God wants to speak to a person, he generally doubles the name. Saul, Saul. Martha, Martha, Samuel, Samuel, Moses, Moses, Saul, Saul. Here is a voice from heaven, and the light shone round about him, and looking up, he said, Who art thou, Lord? Notice the term, Lord. He recognizes that this is a voice speaking to his heart. Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecute. It is hard for thee to kick against the goals. You know, the Holy Spirit had been dealing with him, too. What he saw at the martyrdom of Stephen. No doubt spoke to his heart, and he was fighting against it. General, you find that a person who is doing persecution is fighting against the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. He was as mad as he could be, but he was kicking against the work of the Holy Spirit in his heart. Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against the gods. And then he said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? Notice twice over he uses that term. Not just Jesus, but Lord. Lord, what will thou have me to do? And then the Lord told him what he had to do. Now what we get here is God himself intervening without any human instrumentality at all. I have known cases in my life where this has happened. Sometimes a person, God himself, without any human instrumentality at all, he speaks to the heart and conscience of an individual and reveals himself to him. This is a different way that God is speaking. It's Christ himself speaking to the heart and revealing himself. Later on, the Apostle Paul, in speaking about his conversion, he uses four words. In the Epistle of the Philippines, chapter four, or chapter three, he says he was apprehended. Apprehended? What does it mean? Apprehended? It means to be arrested. It's just like an officer of the law with a warrant in his pocket. And there's a criminal. and he has the job of arresting that individual. And he has that authority in his pocket. And he meets that individual. He meets the criminal and he lays his hand upon him in the name of the law. And he arrests him and he slips the handcuffs on his hands and he takes him to the arraignment. That was what happened at all. He was apprehended. He was arrested. That is the first word that he uses. The second word that he uses is illuminate it. And he uses that in Second Corinthians. He was illuminated. All the light shone in through his heart. A third word that he uses is Revelation. In Galatians chapter one. It was a revelation of Christ through his heart. And by the way, that's what salvation is. It's a person. And the revelation of that person through the soul. First of all, he was arrested. And then he was illuminated. And then thirdly. we find that Christ was revealed to him. And the last word that he uses in the epistles of Timothy, he speaks about salvation. Oh, thank God for salvation. And here is a man that it was Christ himself, without any human instrumentality at all, revealed himself to him. This is the second way that God can save a soul. Now, the third one is in chapter ten. On here is a man from Europe, Cornelius, The man that was the Roman soldier. Did you ever notice that most of the centurions that we find in the Bible, there's something good said about them? It would be an interesting study to look at that word on the different times of the word centurion. An officer of the Roman army. On each time that the name is used, read about a centurion, there's something good said about it. Now here was a man, we're told that he was a devout man. He was giving hands and he was praying day after day, but he still liked something. And he needed something to illuminate him. And the Lord had to work a miracle to get Simon Peter to leave Jerusalem and take that long journey down to where he was at Caesarea. He had to use that miracle given that threefold vision. And when Peter arrived, He started to speak. And he said, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. Oh, he had the joy of preaching at Pentecost to Jews. But here he had the joy of preaching to Gentiles with a house full of people. And he gets up and again in a very, very effective way, filled with the Holy Spirit. He started to speak again. And God wrought mightily in that home. And those that heard the gospel that day, not only were the seals with the Holy Spirit but also they were truly born again. Now this is congregational preaching and we feel that these three different cases they show three different methods that God can use for the proclamation of the Gospel. First of all, one to one, the soul winner and the seeker, sitting together with the open book. And then secondly, God himself The Lord Himself revealing Himself to an individual without any human instrumentality at all. And then thirdly, gospel preaching to a congregation. Oh, beloved friends, we do need preachers that are full of the Holy Ghost. Everywhere today, this tremendous name, this poor old world is looking for men that are able to preach for the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. And when people hear it, they tremble on their seat. and they're awakened to the condition and sight of God. They're convicted of sin and there's true repentance, and then the great work, the miracle of regeneration, is wrought in their heart. So first of all, the three preachers, and then three conversions. Now, just in the last few minutes, I want to speak about three men that miss salvation. And I believe they're in direct contrast to what we find right from the center of the Acts of the Apostle. God's dear servant, the Apostle Paul, has been arrested. He's arrested in Jerusalem. He's taken to Caesarea. And there he has to appear before three individuals. Now the first one is a man called Felix. And by the way, that word means happy. Felix. That means a happy man. He was anything but that. Anyone that would look. at the history of this man written by Josephus, he was a wicked, wicked man. He wasn't a happy man, but he was the governor of Judea. He was sitting in the same seat as Pontius Pilate in his position. And Paul had the opportunity as a prisoner of standing before him. And I tell you, he didn't mince matters. When he was speaking to this man, knowing the type of an individual he was, that he reasoned, first of all, of righteousness, And the second thing, self-control. And the third thing was judgment to come. Paul, he didn't mince matters, dealing with this individual. He knew the man, he knew his background, he knew the wicked life, the adulterous life that he was living, and he didn't mince words. And he gave him the gospel in a very, very effective way. And really did he tremble? Actually, when he heard the gospel, this man, he sat there and the prisoner before him. He angrily trembled when he heard these three words, the righteousness, and secondly, self-control. And thirdly, judgment to come. He trembled. But then he turned to Paul and he said, Go thy way for this time. When I have a more convenient season, I'll send for you. He never did. He missed it. You know, here we get the procrastinator. There's many a man sitting in the gospel meeting and tremble. But there's a procrastinator. No, some other time. I don't have any time just at the moment. I'm far too busy. But that time never came. And worried that when he left and another man was put in his place, he was looking for money. He was looking for a bribe to release the Apostle Paul. What a terrible, terrible scene we get here. The procrastinator. and the man that missed salvation on the Count Adam. Now the second man, he was the man who came in his place. His name was Festus. And this again is a very, very important name. And he too was the governor of Judea that had taken the place of Felix. And really that Paul was brought before him. And when Paul is speaking and showing the great things concerning the person of Christ and outlining the Gospel in a marvelous way, He says, Paul, he shouts out, Paul, he said, you're mad. You're out of your senses. And Paul said, oh, he said, most noble festas, he said, I'm not mad, but he said, I speak the words of truth and soberness. But along with him there came a man who was a king that has heard the grip of the second. He was a youngish man. He must have been around about thirty years of age at the time. But his father, the man was the man who killed the Apostle James, who executed James, and his grandfather was the man who took the head of John the Baptist. And here this man is sitting, listening to the Apostle Paul. Well, as he goes in again through his conversion, and what happened to him, he turned round to the king. He said, you know, he said, these things. He said, you're not ignorant of them. And again he gave him in a very sober and a very tender way. He gave him the gospel. But here is Herod sitting there listening to it. And what did he do? Well, he said, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Oh, he had heard the gospel. He had a dark, bleak background. He said, almost. Thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, Oh, he said, I do wish. But not just almost, but altogether. You were such as I am, except these kings. How kind the Apostle are. But here is a man, too, who missed it. Almost. But he didn't arrive. He didn't come to a decision. And at the end of the Acts of the Apostle, these three individuals are brought before him. Sometimes we sing that little hymn, almost persuaded, not to believe. We have heard it again and again in our Gospel meeting. And we have found people like this, after listening to the Gospel, done in compassion, and with all the love and affection that the preacher has, giving them the simple words of the Gospel, and of salvation, they turn away and they say, almost, almost. But he walked out. And as far as history goes, this dear man, he never accepted Christ as Savior. Oh, thank God for the three individuals that we find right in the center of the Acts of the Apostle. And we thank God for the three preachers. But, oh, as we look at the end of the Acts, and find these three individuals, they missed it, and they lost their soul. My beloved friend, this morning I feel that I have a tremendous responsibility. I'm not here this morning to entertain anybody. But I do want to say that if there is a person here this morning that it never has accepted Christ, my beloved friend, I want to say with all the love and compassion that I have in my heart, I would appeal to you. Don't miss your opportunity. These are examples that are laid down for us in Holy Scripture. These are red lights. These are beacons. And my beloved friend, I do hope that none of us that are here this morning ever may miss the opportunity and go out into eternity and be separated from God forever. So I do feel my responsibility and my beloved friend, I have tried as simply as I possibly could to tell you what salvation is on the person of the Savior. and I would appeal to you to accept him as Saviour and Lord. If you're down before him, repent and confess your sin. And if you do that and accept him as Saviour and Lord, thank God you can have salvation this morning. May God bless us, Lord. Just a little word of prayer. Our blessed God and Father, we do thank thee for thy word. We thank thee for the record that we have in us of these individuals. Our Father, we thank you for the joy that we have of lifting up Christ as the only Saviour of the world. We thank thee for his work upon Calvary's cross. We thank thee, our Father, for his glorious resurrection. We thank thee for his exaltation to God's right hand. And we thank thee, too, for the Holy Spirit of God that's able to take thy word and use it in salvation. Lord, that's thy word. And we ask it for the glory of Christ. And for the benefit of the joy of those who may be here, but have never accepted salvation. Lord, bless my word, we pray. As we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.