1953 November 15, Liphook 1

Psalm 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God”

I realize I’m speaking on a subject that it is not at all popular and have heard it argued that it is not “the gospel”. My reply to that is, I do not accept the statement. I believe the whole gospel is contained in that verse in John. For this was the son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil and this verse is a part of that tremendous work of destruction.

I am not sure I have given my testimony in this hall but I will do so now. I am not really sure of my age, but I could not have been more than eight or nine when I sat in a small country mission hall and listen to Noel Taylor of the Evangelization Society[1] preach from this text and for quite a long time afterwards I wet my pillow with tears very frequently for I was quite sure I was very wicked and young as I was I became very anxious to hear anything that would give me hope and set my heart at rest, and after a few months I understood the truth of Calvary and knew that a wondrous provision was made there for sinners like me and I was enabled by God’s matchless grace to rest upon that work and at quite an early age. I sat at the Lord’s table to remember Him in the breaking of bread and now after more than 50 years preaching the gospel this verse has been laid upon my heart as a basis for a gospel message for the first time. And now while I do not intend to pass over the first clause concerning the wicked, but it is the second clause which speaks of the forgetfulness of God that I want to direct your attention to more especially.

There is one theme that was through the whole Psalm and it is very important that we should rightly understand it. It is the Knowledge of God. The lack of a balanced view of God has brought in more error to the Church of God than anything else. And we need to “Know God” and if we have and maintain a right and scriptural knowledge of God we shall not be worried about a God of love sending His creatures into a burning hell. This is just a little aside. Some years ago we were holding Cottage Meetings[2] in a very out-of-the-way spot near Horsham and the brother who had been speaking was very faithful regarding this subject and on my way home I overtook a lady who had been rather annoyed by the message and as I dismounted[3] at the foot of the hill and prepared to walk with her, she turned to me rather indignantly and asked “Do you believe that a God of love will ever send His creatures into a burning hell”. I realized I had to answer with caution. So I asked her another “What would happen to a London fireman who was found arguing with people in grave danger whether they would be burned to death or killed by falling debris”. She said at once “He would be discharged”. I replied “We are in a similar position. We believe you are in grave danger and our chief concern is your salvation and a God of love has done all He could and all that is necessary for your salvation, by giving His beloved Son to die on the cross to accomplish that purpose. Now will you please turn to verses 7-10. There you can get a correctly balanced view of God. He has prepared His throne for judgment and He will judge the world in righteousness the Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble and they that Know Thy Name will put their trust in Thee, He delights in mercy, and willeth not the death of the sinner but rather that He should turn from His wickedness and live. And I would warn you all against a one-sided view of God, and I would like to point you to a very important statement in verse 16 The Lord is Known by the judgment which He executeth. Please do not turn away from this statement in horror. For there is not a more loving manifestation of God to be found in the whole book which an old Salvation Army brother I knew years ago used to call God’s-love letter to sinners: Where does he execute judgment? Is it not on the cross of Calvary where His beloved bears our sins in his own body, and died in our place under the wrath of God. Jehovah lifted up His rod, O Christ it fell on Thee Yes Yes it was there He made Himself known as a God of love and grace. But it must be said that gives us only one side of the character of God. The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God. There is no one righteous No not one, and all are forgetful of God by nature in Luke’s Matthew’s gospel chapter 24. Where our Lord is speaking of His coming again and refers to Noah and the days of the flood He does not speak of their wickedness, but of those things which were right and good. Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all, and it is just the same in Sodom. They did eat, drink, bought, sold, planted, and builded but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire, and destroyed them all. Why am I calling your attention to this? It is just to remind you, that you do not need to be a very wicked person guilty of all those gross sins that self-respecting people turn away from to be a lost soul. When Dr. Torry[4] was conducting his mission at Brixton a small card was placed on each seat with the all-important question upon one side. What must I do to be saved, and the answer, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and in the corner with the letters PTO, and in turning it over were the words What must I do to be lost? and the answer was given in one word. NOTHING.



[1] Ever since its inception in 1864, following the UK revival of 1859, TES has been a nation-wide evangelistic organisation committed to 'bringing new life to the nation'. TES' distinctive was and remains the positive communication of the Gospel to the people of the United Kingdom. In the past this was largely achieved through a team of itinerant evangelists based throughout the country. Between 1870 and 2004 over 1400 men, and more recently women too, have served the Society and thus the Kingdom as evangelists. Amongst its founders were Lord Radstock and the renowned Scottish preacher, Brownlow North. TES had the personal support of D.L. Moody and both William Booth and Wilson Carlisle, who went on to found the Salvation Army and the Church Army respectively, were associated with the work in its early days. (http://www.tes.org.uk/history.html 21/05/15). Noel Taylor was presumably one of these evangelists although I have no more details about him.

[2] Cottage meetings consisted of a hymn, a prayer and an address based on Bible reading followed by tea, biscuits and questions. They were informal and consisted of up to 12 people (RRA)

[3] Lloyd traveled everywhere by bicycle (RRA)

[4] Presumably Dr. RA Torrey. “Dr R A Torrey and Mr Charles Alexander ... were household names throughout the length and breadth of Britain, and universally recognised as the successors of Moody and Sankey. ... Torrey and Alexander first arrived in this country in January 1903 to take a mission in London, and were met by a number of well-known people including Lord Radstock, Dr Barnardo, Dr Harry Guinness, F B Meyer, and Henry Varley, and it was a hugely successful mission.” (http://www.liverpoolrevival.org.uk/torrey1.htm). A Romance of Song and Soul Winning by Helen C. Alexander, J. Kennedy MacLean states “encouraged by the spiritual results of the missions in Scotland, and in other parts of England the London Evangelistic Counsel… Made bold plans to stir up the great metropolis of the British Empire with a breath of divine things. A five-month campaign was to be spread over the city. The Royal Albert Hall was engaged for February and March. A large temporary wooden building was erected in Brixton to reach the southern part of London through April and May"